DEA Inflicts Harm on Chronic Pain Patients

In an effort to curb opioid drug abuse and addiction, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has issued new rules that limit the accessibility of hydrocodone, putting chronic pain sufferers who rely on the drug in an impossible situation.

The DEA’s new restrictions come after the decision to relabel hydrocodone as a Schedule II drug, making it difficult for users with chronic pain to receive the medicine they need. The recent changes include the elimination of phone-in refills and a mandatory check-in with a doctor every 90 days for a refill.

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Hydrocodone is one of the most widely used drugs to fight chronic pain in the United States, serving a consumer base of about 100 million people. Many who rely on hydrocodone suffer from debilitating chronic pain, which greatly disrupts and decreases their quality of life.

Pain advocates across the country were vocal when the DEA announced these changes: they would have unintended consequences that would hurt, rather than help, legitimate pain patients in need. I spoke with a former patient of mine to find out how she was affected by the up-schedule of hydrocodone. She lives two hours away from the doctor who currently helps manage her pain. For her, it’s a 4 hour round trip every 90-days to access the medication that has helped revive a semblance normalcy since her pain first surfaced when she was just 20 years old. What’s worse, she told me that now, more than ever, she has been made to feel like a criminal for seeking access to medicine that has been rightfully prescribed to her by her own doctor.

In attempting to decode how other patients have been affected by the DEA rule change, the National Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Association (NFMCPA) released a survey of assessing the first 100 days after the regulatory change. The results are scary:

·        88 percent of patients felt that the changes denied their rights to access pain medication

·        71 percent report being switched to less effective medications by their doctors, who are fearful of legal issues

·        52 percent felt an increase sense of stigma as a patient receiving hydrocodone

·        27 percent of patients even reported suicidal thoughts when unable to access their prescription.

Controlling the abuse and overuse of pain killing drugs is necessary to keep patients safe, but the importance of decreasing drug abuse does not outweigh the needs of millions of people who suffer from chronic and depleting pain. When patients who suffer from these excruciating conditions are denied access to medication, they often turn to alternative forms of relief such as black market drugs, creating a larger issue of abuse.

Solving the problem begins with communication among the medical community, to ensure patients have access to their necessary medicine and the ability to live the life they deserve.

The medical system’s purpose is to treat and work for the betterment of patients. When we work against the people we are set up to serve, we are doing a great disservice to our cause and the people who rely on us most.

575 Comments

  1. Maureen Kielian on April 6, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    Dr Webster – new studies show that long term opioids DO NOT work for most patients, and the conversations surrounding the up scheduling of hydrocodone (Vicodin, Percocet, etc) began long before the now pandemic of chronic pain patients in our country. This is a very misleading article. What we have in our country is >100 million narcotic dependents due to the false marketing of Purdue Pharma, and uneducated “pain management physicians”.
    Up scheduling hydrocodone in fact, MAKES physicians be engaged in their patients “pain” complaints and multidiscipline treatment modalities with opioids as a LAST resort. This is in fact exactly what your are now publishing within the VA system. So, to blame the DEA for aligning with your now “new” platform of chronic pain treatment, is extremely short sighted and inaccurate.
    Please do not mislead the public again. Our country is loosing 1 life every 19 minutes due to your previously boisterous education of the physician community that “opioids” are not addictive. They in fact are, and the cause of the CDC declared epidemic.
    Very misleading article, and as a physician, you again are promoting false information with insufficient efficacy studies on long term use of narcotics.

    • Joseph Dixon on May 9, 2017 at 2:02 pm

      You don’t know what you are talking about live one day in my shoes and you would bow your brother,doctor and pharmacists to get some relief from the pain i live with you don’t know what it’s like obviously i hope some day you do idiot.

      • Jill on July 11, 2017 at 8:55 pm

        DEA hypocrits ? So why No crackdown on
        Blood Pressure pills only a few ingested which is a massive dose, may kill an adult ? More $$$ attached to the stigma of a pain pill. Where and when will the DEA Stop dictating the Dr.’s. Practice ? Do they have Agents who are truly Dr.’s & RN’s or any medical experience at all…they are wrong on many levels. tc

        • Patricia on July 14, 2017 at 1:39 am

          Yes absolutely I agree with you. Joseph Dixon. Let them walk in our bodies for 1 day and try to sleep. Let’s see how they would fare. I’m sure they would be looking for pain relief. Yea for everybody who is speaking out.

          • Matthew on July 19, 2017 at 5:46 am

            It’s all very simple. The number if people safely taking opiates, ranging from simple Tylenol #4 and up is pretty staggering, and that bothers insurance companies who are being forced to pay these prescriptions… moreso since the AFA forced everyone onto insurance plans… and even moreso that over 50% of the country is now poor and on government assisted healthcare.

            The scam drug war is completely backed and funded by insurance companies, not bleeding heart politicians. They use misleading statistics on heroin overdoses to paint legal painkillers as evil, when, in fact, overdoses from legal pain killers is miniscule and has been dropping for the past decade.

            I forget the article, but you can google it, that showed 75% of all opiate deaths are caused by heroin, and 90% (!!!!) are caused by mixing drugs, not simply taking too much. Neither of those situations have any relevance to legally prescribed opiates.

            The real kicker is that as they make it more difficult and expensive to get legal pain killers, the more desperate resort to heroin, as it is actually much cheaper, and occasionally those desperate people end up adding to the heroin death statistics the government continues to use to fuel their drug war.

            This war on opiates is the single biggest scam of the last decade, and it is imperative that people spread the truth.



          • Painfilled on July 19, 2017 at 6:38 am

            I agree I live with pain everyday and can’t get any help…. why? Because people abuse the drug I need so badly? If they would research most of the “addicts” are now on herion, meth, because they wanted that cheap easy high. The ones that are ODing are mixing so many pills and taking way too many than they are prescribed so us the ines in real pain are just screwed? I feel like death would be better than this pain I have everyday!!



          • Betty Jackson on August 7, 2017 at 8:43 pm

            Since this “crack down”, my doctors have cut my pain meds, over & over again. I was on a amount, (that allowed me to lead (somewhat) of a normal life…. now, my whole family is worried about me, because I sometimes, lose the will to live… I hate just sitting on the couch, or in bed all day, because I hate to see what a wreck my house is…. (as if I’m not depressed enough)!!! I wish things was like they used to be, where doctors try to find answers to the suffering. I just go every month, & get (the highest amount allowed), according to my pain Dr, & I have to overtake those, because I was on triple the amount I am currently allowed to take, since this mess! My quality of life sucks, & I wish they would take that into consideration! Is there not any exception to these rules????
            People with chronic pain are now having, (or at lease thinking of), looking for street drugs, just for relief, & that is where most of these deaths are coming from. I believe they know this, & they don’t care who does, because it’s population control…. my family would be in so much heartache, if I choose to just give up, on any given day, that I’m in debilitating pain… ?



          • Gail on August 12, 2017 at 6:57 pm

            I agree with you. And with all my other brothers and sisters in pain that are now cut off from medication needed to live normally. I was directly hit by a pickup truck that didn’t see me standing in a parking lot. My body was hit and I was thrown forward and onto the ground. Miraculously, nothing was broken but several nerves were crushed. Not only doi have back spasms but Lupus, severe arthritis, nerve pain in my feet from neuromas, and fibromyalgia. Last Monday, I was supposed to go as my Doctor four and a half hours away, only to discover he suddenly, “retired.” They forced him to stop prescribing pain meds and probably have him an ultimatum. He had dropped hints about it from time to time. I was on 20mg of hydrocodone every six hours. For over thirteen years. In all that time, I never sold them, took more than prescribed orc asked him for something stronger. It allowed me to go grocery shopping, out to eat, take a short stroll, put gas n my car and go to work every day. Just to do normal everyday things that people without chronic pain take for granted. Now, suddenly, I’m not taking the one thing that let me function in society just because some people, like Elvis Presley, had to take massive amounts of CNS depressants to where they overdosed. I don’t know what to do or where to turn. There will be so many casualties of pain.



          • andrew wuco on September 14, 2017 at 4:54 am

            I suffer from pain daily that you could not even imagine in your worst nightmare. It is hard to realize that the human body can inflict this much pain. but it does and worse at that. finally after 26 years of this chronic pain I reached dose that actually made me functional. the very next month the governor implemented a new form of torture for us. I would not want the blood shed on my hands that he now has on his. those of use he feel this much pain now have only one way out. I have found from people who do not have pain that they cannot relate to pain. basically you have to feel it in order not to speak out of ignorance.



          • Mike on September 26, 2017 at 7:53 pm

            How can they do this it is torture. If a parent did this to their child they would take the child away from them it’s like having a night stabbed in to you all day long and there’s nothing you can do to stop the pain we’re having cigarettes burnt and put out on you but they don’t care it’s absolute torture and if they do this enough people will have to commit suicide to stop the pain there is no other choice



          • Barry on September 28, 2017 at 6:06 pm

            I been through 6 failed back operations and have damage lower back another bulging disc under my cages in my back 5 deteriorated disc in my upper back 2 bulging disc in my neck my right leg in alot of pain only got 40% use one cage coming out. We cronic pain suffer should not be punished because of dope addicts I do not know how much longer I can take it been thinking I be better off dead



          • Mary J Krenz on October 15, 2017 at 5:36 pm

            I am continually harassed at the VA due to my chronic pain and the need for relief! Have to jump through hoops just to get needed meds and they will only prescribe enough to take the edge off, I haven’t been pain free for years! But will subscribe sleep meds that make me groggy for days. If the VA takes my pain meds away, I don’t know what I might have to do.



          • Patricia Fabrizio on October 17, 2017 at 1:38 pm

            Whenever I have been to an emergency for whatever they also
            Look at me like I am an addict. The
            Pee test I take are embarrassing enough at my Doctor visits! These Doctors and nurses
            should mind their own business and keep to the oath they took too do
            For patients what they pledged to do!
            Shame on them and everyone else who lives without pain. Punish the ones who deserve it and don’t call my
            Doctor on me you ignorant people.
            Shame On You All!m



          • Pamela on October 29, 2017 at 1:34 pm

            Regarding Mike’s analogy to torture; I wrote to both my senators, my representative and even the president about sentencing me to a life of confinement to the bed and couch. I likened it to a “cruel and unusual” sentence because someone else committed a crime. I also explained the difference between being addicted to a drug as opposed to being dependent on one. The only response I got was a form letter from Senator McCain thanking me for my interest in health care and telling me about his commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare.(Which is also a joke, but it’s McCain, so….)
            They didn’t learn a thing from the last “war on drugs”. And it’s obvious that they don’t care about the millions of people who are having their lives virtually taken away by the knee-jerk reaction of government. All they’re concerned with is the appearance that they’re “doing something” and the money they can get from suing the pharmaceutical companies.
            I was hoping that I could get as any patients as possible to contact their senators and representatives we could get them to pay attention. Now I’m not sure anything will help us.



          • Marjorie S Clark on November 16, 2017 at 7:16 am

            I hear what your saying I’m in pain every day but all day and there cutting my meds now and giving me something else so now I have to wait every 12 hrs just to take something for pain and only get 2 in between pain meds when they had me on something that worked



        • Janba on August 28, 2017 at 4:36 am

          wrong is to good a word.!! It is Ignorance and selfishness !!!!
          If the prescribing Doctors , DEA, CDC,,etc. new what real pain and actually had to deal with it, Im sure the tables would quickly turn! In fact, I wish pain on all the basturds who force CP patients to cont. endure this Hell:( Not to mention, All those who participate in continually trying to withhold meds from CPP, etc, I hope they get in a dituation that will bring upon a Pain that will only cease by Way of Death:) Indeed, I do wish/bid this .
          Ps..I wish you the best dear! Im so sorry for your pain and I wish you the best❣️ Hang on and never give up hope?

          • andrew wuco on October 2, 2017 at 7:03 pm

            We need to revolt against this dictatorship Revolt americans revolt!!!!!



          • Randy Chesley on October 11, 2017 at 7:16 am

            Hang in there, I to am a recent victim. Sep I was taking 5 hydros a day and 2, 20mg oxy er..Oct they cut to 4 a day. 3 a day due to a mixup when changing PM Dr’s after 2 weeks and say they are cutting another pill in my next appoint. Not only am I going thru withdrawals I am in constant pain and hostage to the house or bed. Prior to this I was on much higher doses and doing fairly well and went thru a yr of rapids cuts and was diagnosed with narcotic bowel syndrome which is so miserable it is sucking the life out of me. PM Dr’s say its DEA guidelines, isn’t a guideline just that and negotiable? It is not us chronic pain sufferrers that are OD’ing. yet we are the ones that suffer for them. They will still get their drugs, misuse them, mix them up and still OD.. Is there anybody in Congress speaking for us? Hurtin for Certain Take care all.



          • Bari on July 19, 2018 at 9:58 am

            It’s not the doctors, I’ve talked to quite a few about this issue~as I also suffer with severe pain from multiple diagnoses daily. They’re basically non medical big wigs making the decisions, that should be made by the individual doctors ~ they simply lack the knowledge base and experience to even realize that pain is not a one size fits all diagnosis and the treatment shouldn’t be either.



        • Joann Rivera on September 22, 2017 at 12:48 pm

          I don’t get it. Are they saying that your primary care physician is not capable of properly caring for someone who has chronic pain? Why don’t they go after the drugs that are being sold illegally instead of people who get it from their doctor? Why do they let illegal drugs in this country? Those are definitely the drugs that are killing people. That really makes me feel that we cannot trust our doctors who are suppose to be trained in medicine.Our government is going too far if you ask me. Do we actually live in democracy or do we live in communism? Did the DEA ask us what they should do? I don’t remember voting on this issue. I have chronic back pain due to a job related injury. I have done everything possible to fix the damage including spinal surgery. There is nothing more doctors can do other than manage my pain with pain medication. I don’t like taking narcotics but it makes my pain just a bit tolerable. If I have to do without pain management and I can’t function I don’t know what will happen. To all those who have never suffered from chronic pain you are very lucky. Let’s see how well you will do the day you injure yourself permanently.

          • Cynthia on September 28, 2017 at 5:37 pm

            I am just waiting to die. I survived two kinds of cancer for what? Suicide is not that easy. I have already tried it twice.



          • William T Noel on November 10, 2017 at 8:45 am

            This country is a republic not a democracy.
            That means that the knes with the money get their way.
            All this started when some senators and congressman’s relatives embarrassingly were exposed as drug addicts or overdosed.



          • Rick on November 15, 2017 at 2:30 pm

            I feel you this is bullshit ! fucking addicts ruining it for the people that actually need it to live. I’m on the verge of suicide myself 🙁



          • christina on January 12, 2018 at 5:03 pm

            I agree let those lawmakers suffer like we do ….we would see a change quick



          • Sharon on January 24, 2018 at 10:44 am

            This has indeed turned to a communist country with the drugs and what we have to go through in order to get them. The last time I made a mistake and went to a dentist because I had a tooth that had broken off into the gum line and I never knew that I could not see a dentist. I was turned into the DEA for doctor shopping for goijng to a dentist to get the tooth cut out with about 12 stitches which I did not have done so I still have a very bad and terribly painful tooth because I am on 2 pain meds a day from a pain management doctor. It seems as if the DEA cannot distinguish a difference between acute and chronic so you are blasted for trying to get immediate help also and charged with doctor shopping. So if you have an emergency you have to go through your pain management doctor to get any specialist care. That is what I was told. that means the DEA will know w=every single place you go and every single thing you do and this was all due to one giggly ditzy little blonde pharmacist standing behind a counter who did not know me. those of su with chronic pain have no other choice other than to stay on constant pain because the DEA doe snot care. I attribute it to something like a =Jewish concentration camp where I was getting ready to ask if they were going to tattoo my arm and lead me through the doors to the gas chamber. That is exactly how I was treated. I can only imagine as close as possible to how the jews must have felt while being led to their death because is that not what the DEA is doing to us. The DEA is now in charge of our life and death and the DEA and our federal government wants our elderly to die because that will mean less money out of the government pocket for healthcare. This is how they are going about doing it. This is weeding out the sick and those who are in pain and the elderly and bring about a new and healthier generation of people who do not need to have pain medication in order to survive. That is called a communistic regime and I believe that is what Hitler did during the second World War and before. Our own federal government which is called the DEA are arresting people who some of them have no idea of what the drug law states and arresting them for doctor shopping like I did when I had no idea. The thing is that they are not catching the people who do drugs. Those people are still getting and selling drugs on the black market and they are more savvy than us who got caught doing something innocently and they are smarter than us and the DEA and they will continue to prosper in what they are doing. this law and the DEA is not catching the people who are dealers. They are catching the innocent people who were and are trying to do the right thing but made an innocent mistake in going about doing it and that is all the DEA is doing. They are not going after the hardened criminals because they are smarter than all of us and they are still doing and selling drugs. This is the most ridiculous law I have ever seen pass in the history of this world. Our own DEA who knows nothing about our health is able to pass a law that demands them to be able to see every single that we take without knowing us or the circumstances surrounding what and why we are taking it. There is something very much the matter here and YES our Constitutional rights are being greatly violated along with great and massive HIPAA violations. Right now HIPAA means nothing. Not worth the paper it is written on. It is nothing but a laugh because anyone can access our records so why do we pay tax dollars for an agency that regulates HIPAA when that is totally extinct since the DEA overrides HIPAA. Yours mine and everyone else we love rights for privacy are being violated here by the DEA and the DEA loves it. Once they say you are guilty you have to hire an attorney and you will never get another pain pill for the rest of your natural life. Now that is determining if someone lives or dies and how and our DEA is in charge of that. Some little punk kid who had worked for the DEA maybe 5 years and never had any kind of medical degree is in charge of our lives. How does that feel? It is constitutionally wrong in every way possible but it will take the ACLU and other to come in a file a huge lawsuit and take the federal government down in order to remove this cloak and dagger pony show that is being pulled on the American people by the DEA. They are truly in charge of whether we live or die and are in pain or not. It is now their call and not yours and mine who are living through extreme pain every single day of our lives.



          • Bari on July 19, 2018 at 10:13 am

            Don’t lose faith in the doctors~it’s hell for them too~recently the Feds visited my pain clinic, just to rifle through every chart looking for a reason to charge the docs/clinic with wrongful prescription writing. Absolutely ridiculous, the problem lies on the street corners not in the medical facilities. Hang in there, I’m hoping this craziness won’t last. I mean how could it, it was born from ignorance & greed.



        • Dr king prisecuter on September 30, 2017 at 6:20 am

          Problem isnt dea.problem is health care management and lack of involvement for real solutions..example i have ptsd and horizon refused to give me a narcotic anxiety pill to treat my main symptom of anxiety.instead t h ey put me on high doses blood pressure lowering mefs and seratonin pills.
          Tride for months to get scripts changed they refused to do kept naking excuses..finally i took recording device to appointment tokd them i was recording.doctor told me coukdnt record its my hippa right not hippa to protect there malpractice..durring appointment doctor. Told me i was on this list meds kept telling me i was wrong the list she had was pills i was on..
          She had list oilks from dic next doir was incorrect and banner reports were messed up untruthfull so in end i get injured messed up and all 3 johnny on spot ti get paid though..
          Insurance fraud and maloractice cause no over sight..
          Funney they ask me at ohsyc evaks if i think the tv or things ariund are talking to ne..
          I say no because there retarded tunnel vision see what they want to..
          Black phsyc dovtor once told me i shiuld write book making fun of me then i end uo banner with a koontz signing as legal rep without my permission and a black doctor saying crazy and treating me…i would like to inform the ghost buster book medical society your gig of rico is up..federal .by way police officer pensylvanie arresting nurse not taking bloid was bevause he knew i here cg officer nurse killing me wont take my blood and help…doctors nurses you have no law powers to assert in your practice except one law power and thats go to jail courtesy who you gonna call 911 ghost buster cop..banner cada intelkectual prooerty rights you are notifide of trust u cant kill me and take it..stick my crown you ass and caugh doctor rock star authorized cavity searches home..gitmo cia cuba treat you good as you did me im sure.

          • Patricia on January 25, 2018 at 6:54 am

            Dr King prisecuter I couldn’t understand what you wrote.



        • Ladonna Davis on October 11, 2017 at 4:03 pm

          Crazy and wrong drug addicts cause those of us in pain have to suffer and be stigmatized I have stenosis degenrative disk facet joint hip if I can’t get out of pain then why am I alive to suffer cause careless doctors prescribed to addicts figures got to pay for spoiled rich people’s mistakes

          • Rex Layne on February 1, 2018 at 6:51 am

            I am same way, most I ever got was 15 mg. Percocet a day Dr. said I had chances to od, now she has me on 5 mg. a day. Lasts me about 2 weeks , thenI have a bad 2 weeks



        • Elaine M on November 15, 2017 at 4:42 pm

          Ok, I have chronic, debeatating pain. I have been on pain medication for 9 years.. now I either have to drive 2 hours there and 2 back not including time at the clinic.. I live in Tennessee and just read a report that informed me that although the narcotics laws have become stricter it seems the over dose have skyrocketed as well as suicide rates.. this is the consequences of people in pain not being able to handle pain without medication… Also babies born addicted have risen because people are going to herion and other street drugs… So Tennessee, are you really making a difference or are you exclating the problem??? You, the government are to blame… Is this not ” too much government interfering????

        • Elaine Broom on November 24, 2017 at 5:24 pm

          Shame to put such fear in the doctor’s who are suppose to be helping chronic pain patients. My pain Mangement closed the door in my face wuthout any help cold turkey . 8 surgeries in need of 3 more . Who will help ??
          The pain is to much . Does anyone care?

        • Leeza on December 6, 2017 at 12:06 pm

          It’s all because of the government. I am a long time sufferer of pain. After my pain Dr talked to me like I was scum, do to my other health issues such as chemo. I had a seveir panic attack & My primary Dr told me to choose another pain Dr. Yet she wouldn’t give me even a third of what I had been prescribed. 5 weeks later going through detox , I was just denied by another pain Dr. I won’t buy street drugs because they are putting different drugs into pills. But I Am Sick Of Being Told By Our Government What I Can & Can Not Do Regarding My Health. They Put All The Chemicals They Choose On Me For Chemo & Now I Can’t Make Through The Day

        • Sharon on January 24, 2018 at 11:49 am

          No the DEA is not using people who monitor this who are doctors or even have a healthcare background so you have people stating rules who have no health care experience but since they have the doctors scared to prescribe anything to chronic pain sufferers that is why the DEA is successful in making this work. They have doctor scared of losing their license and most of them are young pimple faced kids and young men and women who are also and have been on narcotics. I know someone who works for the DEA and he is currently on hydrocodone. More than I was getting as a chronic pain patient. Think of the people who have cancer and cannot get enough medication to relieve the cancer pain. This thing with the DEA goes much further than just assigning them to our lives. This is a constitutional violation. One branch of the federal government along with help from the CDC is in charge of our health care medications and health care needs when they have zero health care knowledge. Think of how that is? The whole thing is getting rid of the elder and sick people so federal government monies will no longer spent on them and only then will this be a country of perfect and healthy people. It is called nothing other than “gestapo” tactics.

      • Mary on July 31, 2017 at 8:42 pm

        I agree with you. I live in chronic pain and it is awful. I am so scared.

        • Leanna on August 3, 2017 at 1:34 pm

          The regular Joe gets it again! Do they not understand by controlling our doctor and OUR pain relievers WILL NOT stop addiction?? The only ones hurt by this is the common American who just wants to live a “normal” or as close to normal life as we can get. The drug addicts will go on getting whatever drugs they want from other sources. If they are worried about me becoming a drug addict while I take ENOUGH medication to make me a productive citizen, they shouldn’t! They should not be telling my doctor what and how much I can take. Is that not my right? Why are my rights being stepped on all the time? Because the one’s they need to go after have the blow hard civil liberty lawyers on their case and NOT on mine! So, go ahead and change my meds. I will no longer work, go on disability and spend the rest of my days wallowing away in bed!

          • Daneene Gordon on September 28, 2017 at 11:32 am

            I can’t fuction!!!!!!!!



          • Sharon on January 24, 2018 at 11:39 am

            Do people understand that the feds want us to die. That is their way of weeding out the sick and the elderly from the young and healthy. That way they do not have to spend government monies on helping us. You will start to see homicide rates go up. You will start to see suicides go up and you will continue to see the drugs flourishing on the black market. This is not about the drugs but about the people who abuse the drugs. My pain management doctor gave me no contract nor did he tell me what to do. Then when I did wrong but never knew I was doing wrong because I was told not to tell any doctor what you are taking by the same company he works for I got into trouble and was treated like trash and talked to as if I was dirt. I was locked into a room and for one full hour verbally abused and called a liar. They went back on me five years ago when this was not even in effect and that doctor is no longer a doctor. From five years ago? I was in tears and shaking uncontrollably. Is this what it has come to now. They will now take a senior citizen who has never been on any pain medication until the age of 64 years old and use me for their punching bag and then after it was all said and done tell me how fortunate I am that the doctor did not drop me? They said I might have to be monitored? What? I have come to the realization that all this is not about catching offenders but catching normal law abiding people who just plain hurt and cannot find help. What it all boils down to is that the federal government is now your policeman for medication. The HIPAA laws mean nothing and is a laughingstock and yours and my and everyone else’s constitutional rights are being violated. Unless we can get the big guns in to help us in this fight more people will die from pain and non healthcare because we are all afraid now to go see a doctor because no doctor will help us. Maybe with maintenance drugs but that is also controlled by the DEA and the feds so never think that anything you use or take is not being monitored by the feds because it is. Our own federal government is violating the constitutional right that was put in place by our forefathers and our own federal government is violating its own constitution. I have just come to the realization that I will not be able to get help from any specialist and not be able to have surgery so I will die from what is causing me so much pain. I accept that because nothing else can be done about it. This is all in the federal government plan to rid this country of all the drug users and this is their plan to do it. Whenever the federal government becomes involved in people’s lives it has always turned out to be a mess because the federal government cannot run Washington, D.C. let alone people’ lives. I have a college degree where I went out and went to college and worked and earned it but that pharmacist who earned her degree online and some never graduated from high school but earned their degrees online are getting a “bounty” for turning people into the DEA they think are abusers of pain medication so they have an incentive to try to catch people so I see this as getting much worse than it already is. So I would advise anyone before you fill that script to go to a pharmacy where you can trust your pharmacist because if you cannot you are going to the wrong pharmacy. I have a double edged sword because I have an autoimmune disease that not one single doctor understand or cares what it is and that makes me very vulnerable to what they say I have to do and what I cannot do or take and I am to their opinion a troublemaker because I am trying to protect my own health. I would advise anyone and everyone to have an advocate to take with you every time you walk into any doctor’s office so they will be able to be with you because I do not believe anything that any doctor will try to pull these days on any patient and you need a witness to protect your rights in case you are unable to do so. I had none with me the day I was locked into the room and abused and that was a terrible mistake on my part but they blindsided me and I was not expecting it to happen. Now after they got through I have lost my job, my primary care physician, my specialist and my surgeon because everyone was told what the DEA thought they should know regardless of what the circumstances were. I was found guilty without having a trial and I lost everything all over a mistake that I knew nothing about because the pain management doctor neglected to tell me the rules. I blame that on him. I was trying to take care of an emergency and have paid for it dearly and I hurt severe every single day of my life because the emergency never did get taken care of and now I am afraid to try to take care of it. I will most likely die from it because blood poisoning will set in but I am prepared for that fact and there is nothing else I can do. This was in the plan of the DEA. Let as many die as possible because there is no longer any such thing as end of life care. That ended with the obamacare and you will not see that come back again. Only the very healthy and those without health issues will survive and then will this be a perfect. Another Hitler communist regime tactic with us who are ill and needing meds to survive paying the price.



        • Crystal on August 11, 2017 at 1:22 am

          I’m scared too. I already have days were I’m in to much pain to do anything. It effects my whole way of life. Wish people would understand the people that over dose.are just going to find another way to get there high . it’s not fair for the people that need them.
          And use them right.

        • melodie calomeris stillwell on August 19, 2017 at 11:00 pm

          I have MS. I agree with everyone on here that has the pain of any kind. I can’t even stand a toothache pain to any degree! I thought to have a baby was a pain – HELL NO, This is way worse! They need to feel this pain then we will see things change I bet!

          • Risa on September 8, 2017 at 4:26 am

            I am with you all. I got hurt over 20 years ago and have had multiple surgeries. In which none helped. Actually the last one mad me worse. So now I am being cut very rapidly and was told because I am on 2 shirt acting meds that I m a red flag for selling them. “To who I asked”? I am insulted beyond belief. I have always taken my meds right. But since others. Don’t, mostly people that aren’t in pain we all are being punished. I am not the one who put me on these but now feel like a criminal because I am on them and need them to just have a bit of a normal life. I am so scared as to what quality of life i am going to have now. Just like all of you….. I was even told that taking these was probably making me worse. In fact once I am lowered down to almost nothing I won’t even notice. OMG! Are you kidding me. I just wish we had some legal ground to stand on to protect us and our health.



          • Josie Riddiough on November 3, 2017 at 9:37 am

            I have ms also. And Kaiser took away my meds due to a grievance I filed. 48 Latina struggling. Josie



        • Odin on September 21, 2017 at 6:02 pm

          when my pain meds run out , at the end of this month .
          I will take my Pistol and blow my head off .
          I have Severe Chronic Back Pain and I’m on disability since 2004 ,
          I’m done , have no more fight left in me..
          I have Never abused drugs or my Meds ,, I use them to try and live a pain free life .
          I look forward to ending my life , my family knows my plan .
          I’m not a drug addict , i’m just a man trying to make the most out of the cards , life has dealt me. Goodbye and God Bless

          • laura raley on October 25, 2017 at 2:49 am

            DONT…PLEASE..GET SOME HELP FROM



          • Renee on October 25, 2017 at 8:18 am

            I agree !



          • Virginia on November 13, 2017 at 4:13 am

            I know how you feel. After surviving Stage 3 lung cancer in 2008, I have been on pain meds and tranquillisers. I am ADHD and suffer from the common addition of panic/anxiety attacks. They’re still not sure how much radiation therapy and chemo has to do with one painful problem after another. Broken femur, broken hip, chronic back pain, and I’m not a candidate for surgery. My Dr has been telling my husband and I that it would be harder and harder to get the meds I have to have just to change my clothes. I’ve already considered suicide. If they cut my meds I will buy a gun. More people are going to take the same way out. Why don’t they make liquor more regulated? There has to be a way for us to get our meds. Go peacefully my friend.



          • Gram214 on December 16, 2017 at 3:25 pm

            No….if you do that they win !



          • Laura Hartman on January 1, 2018 at 10:20 am

            Before you try to do this, Please write a letter to your governor and Senator and DEA. Let them know how you feel, because how you feel is like how all of us feel. The pain is excruciating and lowering our meds is like pure and simple torture. More people will need Disability. Don’t give up hope, I have a great pain doctor in SA, Tx named Dr. Dinger. We are all suffering, please be strong for us. Let them know the consequences to their actions, it is unfair to legitimate pain patients. God Bless You. Please do not kill yourself, our lives are short already. I pray that God will guide you. Let your Pain doctor KNOW how you are feeling, if he doesn’t help try another pain doctor. God Bless You , I am praying for you, I am another person in chronic pain.



          • christina on January 12, 2018 at 5:14 pm

            Hey don’t let them win all of us chronic pain suffers ought to go sit on the white house lawn and let them look at us. I cannot work anymore I went to making 76,000 a year to 12,000 a year no w ask me why would I want to stay home in pain not doing anything to go back to work living a good futile life and as far as selling the black market government not gonna stop that it makes government too much ,oney



      • Melissa on August 10, 2017 at 11:16 pm

        So very True! This Pain is unbearable and these moron’s need to go through this hell ! I am so sick of hurting and not being able to do nothing about because our Government thinks everyone is abusing the BULL Shi*! I need out of pain. I Agree with you Joseph

      • Bill on August 11, 2017 at 9:51 am

        Just do what I did and go get heroin self medicate

        • Laurence on November 14, 2017 at 8:25 am

          Then they’ll throw you in jail, which is want I think this whole thing is about anyway. the DEA needed a new drug cause they’re losing pot.

          I feel badly for the docs who have enough on their hand with the HMOs and now the DEA looking over their shoulders and threatening their licenses. I think the DEA is far overstepping it’s mandate and interfering with medical practice. Now, I’ve just switched neurologist and he told me last week he may stop prescribing altogether.
          I thought, “just shoot me then” my life ins’t worth a plug nickle these days anyway

          I don’t hear much about them arresting people who truly do use this stuff to get high. I never hear about them going after Big PhRMA to stop false advertising either.
          This is going to change when they get more CP patients killing themselves than the addicts ODing in their cars with child in the backseat…yeah sure thing. why not trot out the “Reefer Madness” movies of the 40’s while you’re at it.

          Thing is, they don’t give two cents for the people of this country anymore, they don’t need us and CP/disabled people are considered useless eaters anyway.
          It’s sadistic, but that’s America now

      • Carol on August 14, 2017 at 6:17 pm

        I couldn’t have said it better, I am a 64 year old woman who had 6 surgeries over 10 years. I need the pain meds to make it to the bathroom, even with the meds they don’t take the pain away, just takes the edge off that’s all. Pain never goes away. My x father in law killed himself at the age of 78 because he lived in pain and couldn’t take it anymore. So your thinking is absolutely wrong, maybe you should pray for pain, and when he lets you have it let’s see how you handle no pain medication.

        • Suzanne Leavey on September 4, 2017 at 5:38 pm

          I was in bed for 3 weeks this month. I thought of suicide more often than not.

          I pay a fortune now to pay for PM vs my family doctor.

          I was already using as little as possible. now my PM is talking about a spinal stimulator vs my 3 pills a day. Spasms is half of my problem I was pulled off of Soma too. A spinal stimulator is very invasive and in itself cause spasms.
          Now I have to go through a series of cortisone blocks that don’t work and flare up the allydenia just so it can be documented that alternate methods were tried.
          I was mauled by a Rottweiler and have nerve damage. I am unable to sit and schedule my life around hours that the meds work for me.

          Anyone else spending a fortune on PM? I am on disability and had a 100k job and lost it al due to the injury.

          • Diane Brierley on September 21, 2017 at 5:45 pm

            I have had 2 spinal cord stimulators placed and removed. The first one moved. The second did not relieve my pain but made it worse. I have had 10 back surgeries with significant nerve damage. I hope it helps you. It just is not the answer for everyone. Good luck!



          • Peggy on November 8, 2017 at 10:07 pm

            I think they are all in cahoots funny how now they want to do surgeries and implants and shots of things that will harm us worse! And who makes the money of of those procedures & items hmmmmm? I was advised the same today – implants of some med I find out is for addicts so this new nurse profiled me without even examining me just sat re-typing a radiologist report I was forced to get to try to prove injury or other! Fibromyalgia has no freekin xray type things to show up! I do have some probs where they took them knee & shoulder but they aren’t the main issue they are just added ones. No wonder all the long standing docs retired & nurses left this practice – I am sure most of the patients are & will be leaving as well. Too much tylenol eats the liver, too much ibuprofen causes gut bleeds, both causes ear ringing with too much or high doses, thats why my doc had me on my meds and I take a low amount as it is and have never abused it or asked for more before next appointment, my tox screens prove the levels – this is bs what happend to the pain patient bill of rights??!!



          • Mr . Shawn Patrick on November 28, 2017 at 12:00 pm

            In reading your post along with all the others, I am compelled to let you know, along with all the others that you are not alone. I am 45 and feel my life is not worth living some days due to my chronic pain. I contracted Lyme disease from tick bites almost 25 years ago, which caused me to get osteoarthritis in almost all my joints, my hips and knees being the worst. In 2001 I was in an accident that herniated discs in my neck and lower back. After I realized my conditions prohibited me from working, I got on disability in 2005. Since then, I have been through most if not all the writers of this blogs have been through. I receive under 800$ a month from disability. My co-pay for my pain management went up to almost 100$ a month. I have destroyed my liver from taking Tylenol and other over the counter pain relievers for years. I had to move to a warmer climate, away from my family, due to my inability to handle the arthritic pain I suffer from the snow, ice, and cold every winter. I went to California a few years back, willing to try the medicinal marijuana, it took the edge off my pain, but due to the anxiety the pot caused and the high cost of living, it just wasn’t for me. Now, with the money I pay every month to my doctor, and the hoops I have to jump through, just to get my meds, the feds just make it harder for folks like us who suffer unimaginable pain every day. I too, have laid in bed, in tears, grinding my teeth in agony, wishing for death. If not for my families’ heartbreak my suicide would cause and my fear of God, I probably would have ended it. To sum it all up, I have been through a lot, having a Doctor prescribe pain meds, only to go to the pharmacy and find out my insurance will not cover it, buying meds on the street, just to get some relief, having a Doctor threaten to cut me off my meds because I smoked cigarettes, once going to a methadone clinic for pain management, only to have the Doctor cut my dose suddenly by 70mg in one day, almost killing me due to my blood pressure sky-rocketing, kicking me out of the clinic, all because I called them on their abuse of power they lorded over the folks that went there. Never again will I do that! Methadone is pure poison, I was sick for weeks coming off that stuff! I even paid almost 400$ a month after that to go to another clinic so I could dose down and not go cold turkey, which I ended up doing anyway. I could go on and on…I have been there, the learning curve I’ve been on has been sharp and jagged at times, and boy, does it hurt when cut! Don’t give up and kill yourself, please, I have been in that dark hole.
            ps…CBD I buy online has helped me with arthritic pain…
            God bless



          • Dolores Corbett on July 18, 2018 at 5:35 am

            I am a 70 yr old who came down with severe RA at 16 yrs old.It has wreaked havoc on my body I now have Osteo, neuropathy, sciatica,and nerve damage.I also have a 43 yr old wheelchair bound son I take care of He has Lymphedema and diabetic toes I have to wrap and hydrate his legs every other day.Help him in and out of shower and so forth.Ten years ago my Dr. put me on 3 7.5 hydro a day It has allowed me to live a pretty normal life if I don’t overdo.Now they are beginning to cut back my meds.If it continues I don’t know how I will cope.Yet they will give drug addicts clean needles and allow them to shoot up there illegal drugs in special rooms.But we who have chronic pain will be treated as drug addicts when most of the deaths from overdoses are from illegal drug use but they don’t tell you that.They just lump it all together.Thank you for allowing me to vent.I do not know what is going to happen to me and my son.



      • Chris on August 29, 2017 at 9:19 am

        Well said sir! I’ve been dealing with debilitating chronic pain for over 20 years and my “pain management” Dr seems to think that suddenly it’s all in my head now, whereas before, he was very understanding of my pain. It’s not like I don’t have a dozen MRI’s, multiple back surgeries, spinal fusions, etc for them to verify my pain is legit and that the deterioration of my spine will continue to get worse at an ever increasing rate. I’ve had multiple surgeons notate this in my charts. The DEA’s new guidelines are hurting those of us who are legitimate pain patients instead of curbing illegal use. It’s absurd and is simply one more way the government wants to “control” us. Like you, I’ve said the very same thing to my Dr and PA……”spend just one day in my shoes and then tell me it’s all in my head”.

        • Barry on September 3, 2017 at 5:34 am

          I have been through 6 failed lower back operations damage nerve scar tissue on nerve 5 deterioration disc upper back 3 severe multiple bone spurs sticking me in my nerves and 2 bulging disc in my neck and another bulging disc in my lower back I have no life anymore the pain is so severe I can barely walk and my pain doc has cut me back I now suffer so much I only get a few hours sleep he took away my pain meds that I take b4 bed my doc expects me to go 11 to 12 hours without my meds then try and go to bed all I do is toss and turn just to get out of bed and take my meds and I am running short and got to suffer. I had it I’m think about ending my life just getting to be to much.

          • Barry J Porch on September 13, 2017 at 3:59 am

            My DEPRESSION meds no longer work very sleep deprived the PAIN is just to much my state of mind is getting worst. I’m going to talk with my pain doc cause in newjersey on the newjersey pain laws I found that cronic pain suffer are exempt it says they can keep getting there same meds they been taking every month but pain doc needs to talk to me about taking them witch I know and urine test and a agreement letter place in file. If he does not raise them so I can take b4 sleep I must leave newjersey and go to Delaware and hope for the best



        • Terry on September 22, 2017 at 5:33 pm

          I’m right there with you Chris. Been 17 years now since my original injury. 3 back surgeries, epidurals, trigger point injections, nerves burnt, and a handful of therapies.

          I have been able to cut my Oxy dosage in half that I was on probably 10 years, 240mg. I am getting by on 120mg barely. I’m certainly not as comfortable as I was but it’s bearable. When I’m due for my next dosage I’m hurting but it’s not torcherous, maybe a 5-6. Any more cuts in my meds and I’m really going to be suffering.

          Comp just got a dr in another state that has never seen me to say I need NOTHING, not even a muscle relaxer or anti inflammatory. So now I have a lawyer and just went to an Independent medical exam at a comp dr. Haven’t heard what is going on yet with that.

          So since comp won’t pay for my Oxy’s I have to have Medicaid pay for my meds. They won’t cover the Oxy 60mg time release 2x a day. They will cover the Oxycodone instant release 30mg 4x a day though which is 1/3 the price. Same dosage 120mg. but not time released. So I was worried they weren’t going to work as well but I don’t notice much difference.

          So after all my worries about paying for my own meds and then having them not work as well. Everything works out and I’m not stressing again. I have been on the 30mg. 4 months now. Now my dr says he has to cut the amount of pills he gives out and he is going to stop prescribing the 30’s since they are instant release. I just can’t win, I’m so sick of this BS. He just started giving me that script!

          So unless I win my case with comp and have it wrapped up by next month I don’t know what I am going to do. Dr. will write me for 2x60mg a day but I’ll have to pay for it myself $900.00. He still is talking about cutting me more even. I’m so sick and tired of this stress.

          My pain is a 10 without meds and I have tried everything else to get relief. I don’t get high on my pills, never take more than prescribed, quit drinking years ago, do drug teats, etc. I do everything right but have to always worry my damn pain pills will be taken away and I’ll have to end my life. No human could take that much pain. I’m not just uncomfortable I’d be screaming in agony unable to move. I can’t see any dr letting someone suffer like that.

          Not ONCE in all these years has someone said I look high or out of it. I hate taking pills but what choice do we have? If they knock 10 years off my life I’ll take that instead of suffering and having no quality of life. I can’t golf, bowl, etc, that I loved to do but I can function with meds. EVERYONE needs to feel chronic pain for a day. Then we won’t be looked at as junkies and have doctors saying it’s all in your head.

          Good luck to all.

          By the way I have already been retired on a medical retirement and found totally disabled. To get that done 3 doctors had to rule me totally disabled. A comp dr, my surgeon, and the Chrysler dr. So how can comp say I don’t even need an aspirin after taking care of me since 2001? I thought once they cut my meds in half comp would be happy and never mess with me. I’m tired of hurting and tired of the BS.

          • Christina on January 12, 2018 at 5:27 pm

            Is is bullshit I mean I know where to buy black tar herion is that what they want us to do? Maybe that’s what they want I mean people already look at us like we are drug seeking. Well all you good citizen’s that don’t understand the pain we are in we want to be good people but ya know take my meds away the herion seller will get new customer



      • Jeff on September 20, 2017 at 7:55 am

        I have double fusion on my neck, herniated disc in my neck,thoracic and lumbar. Spondylitis in 80% of my spine. Can’t walk, urinate, have sex, an My quality of life is a joke. The DEA should focus on herion dealers traffickers and users!!! Now the FDA regulated medication I thought but everything has been twisted. I have been on morphien for YEARS 5 years first time, 7 the second and now 2 the third and still on it. I don’t have addictivepersonalities thank goodness. I seen what Purdue pharmaticutal do as dispicable! Marketing a Narcotic that is synthetic herion as safe and non addictive! Then the dam pill mills. Thanks to these 2 factors the REAL patients who need this suffer as I have herd both sides of this equation and I just have to say this. 1. You need to see a psychiatrist for approval, then an addiction counselor and finally a pain management specialist who only prescribed the smallest amount. Unscheduled Drug screening as mandatory and paperwork to catch trends of reversion abuse ect. I have talked to many doctors who object to this but value their jobs and know if you get labeled as overwriting you loose your dea licenance! These studies are all biased as I can put together any study to get the desired result lol. I thank got for my 169 is but hate being too smart as I know what’s going too happen too me. My pain is an 8 on medication and a 10 and tears without. My blood pressure gets so dam high it’s not even funny. Now horses get better treatment as I’d rather be put down than suffer this honestly

      • Betsy on October 1, 2017 at 1:57 pm

        U can bet they do not go without pain meds or their families this is so wrong

      • Kellie on October 23, 2017 at 10:15 am

        I just don’t know what to do know,I have never broken the law but do have a disease and live in pain every day,have a son with autism,just want to keep a clean house,bo my best to feed my son without so so much pain an now after 5 year,it’s sorry.what do I do

      • none ya on November 8, 2017 at 3:11 pm

        Are you serious are you comparing debilitating pain to a diabetes problem, that statement alone explains your mentally retarded approach to this major problem, people have committed suicide from living with incredible pain, I am sure that you aren’t smart enough to figure that out

      • Ronda on December 14, 2017 at 2:15 pm

        Exactly… I wish I could touch the hands of Drs & idiots & bring them to their knees with the pain I feel

      • James Davis on January 5, 2018 at 2:06 pm

        Morsels Dixon I agree with you. When one of these DEA
        HYPOCRITICAL, “Thug’s” one experiences severe acute, or chronic pain they will be the one’s yelling the loudest, for Pain Relief!!! Medicine should be Left Only
        In the Realm of DR.’S,& Pharmacist, NOT BIG GOVERNMENT!!! I saw a lot
        Of Opium use in South Vietnam, by the local population. They didn’t have to deal with interference from anyone, or be forced to purchase overly priced, patent
        narcotic medication, from Big PHARMA. Most of these people, struggled along, trying
        to Survive, in condition’s of Abject, miserable, POVERTY. Both Hashish, Opium, Heroin, ‘ Areca Nut(betel nut), were easily obtained, & thus those suffering ,medicated themselves!!! Oh, betel nut fruit nut’s produced a strong stimulators effect!!

      • patsy , darein on January 31, 2018 at 8:05 am

        my wife has had 3 back operations ,2 failed because of L&I,3 right hip operations and implants,4 left hip operations W implants .you want to talk about pain, constant migraines from 10 operations , so much pain that she cant even lay down to sleep! and now her doctor has cut of her meds after 17 years. I hope she can last long enough to join a class action lawsuit against the DEA . at 69 years old she deserves to be left alone to live as we choses to ,not free of pain, but bearable .

    • Papa t on May 9, 2017 at 3:16 pm

      Sorry but all studies are not true. I for one say the study is wrong. As a long term pain patient the medicine has helped me greatly and helped me with my ability to live life a little instead of laying on a chair like a useless price of crap.
      And know I am going from a life back to being miserable and useless. So DON’T say this is article is wrong when you have no clue about other people.
      If this works for you then great but it doesn’t for me and thousands of others.

      • Debbie on July 11, 2017 at 2:24 pm

        I had my medication changed this month. I have been miserable! I can’t imagine going on with my pain level so horrible.I am not a drug addict although I am sure my body is addicted.
        I have been in Pain Management after a back surgery went bad. My meds have been increased 3 times in 17 years. I have never failed a urine test. I have never taken them but the proper way. I have grand children. I want a LIFE.
        I have Osteoporosis Arthritis that is magified by SLE , Radiculopathy from all the nerve damage,etc.
        I am 61 years old and with Medicine at least felt that age. This month I feel 71 . My recliner has been my only friend.
        Please,how can they punish us for Drug Addicts that are still going to use ? Nothing will change except more will go searching for Herion to take their pain away..
        This time I cannot agree with the government and if President Trump had any hand in this,he lost a vote next time!!!

        • Patricia on July 14, 2017 at 1:46 am

          I was out of my medication for one week and was scheduled to wait 2 more but I could not endure the pain any longer, I could not live in the hot tub during the heat to try and find relief, I could not continue to eat asprin for inflammation that never went away and I cannot live in bed the rest of my days because I don’t have my medication. Good thing I went in and shied my pill bottles Empty and the date. I got my dr visit moved up and the doctor tells me our Az governor wants all doctors to stop prescribing that the governor wants all of Arizona patients off the narcotics. I wonder if our gov ever suffered physical pain or ever needed pain medication?

          • Pain forever on September 17, 2017 at 2:03 pm

            I totally agree with all pain patients. I’ve written to Ducey several times. They spend millions to research the dubbed opiate addiction problem. Even had a joke of a tv special that only applied to heroin. All we can do is spread awareness and vote against the fake addiction of the profitable drug war. It keeps money flowing to people we pay to protect and represent us. The forgotten sufferers.



        • Oculos on July 14, 2017 at 5:10 pm

          Debbie, we humans are chemical machines. We are all literally drug addicts. Don’t allow yourself unnecessary worry concerning yourself with others opinions of your dependable on certain chemicals. The truth is, we all are. There’s no way around it. Just like heroin off the streets can kill you, so can prescribed meds. The only difference is the government gets their gut out of what you buy through them. We are literally always in possession of a very large amount of the most illegal drug on the planet. Think about that. Our pineal gland releases a small amount of Dimethyltriptamine when we achieve REM sleep. It is the most psychoactive drug on the planet and yet we use it every night we dream. When we die, we release the entire glands contents and we experience the biggest trip of our entire lives, and that’s right at the moment we draw our last breath. So, take care of yourself, but don’t worry about being a drug addict. If you’re taking care of yourself, and not spinning out of control, you do what it takes to live life comfort. Don’t allow judgments imposed by anyone to change you. The truth is anyone calling you an addict is denying their own literal addictions. Take care;)

        • Lisa on July 20, 2017 at 4:28 am

          I so agree! They have cut me down to nothing almost after 13 years on them! They cut me down to the point I have to inhale tylonol on top of it! If someone had to go threw awful pain for one day what we do 24/7 would think differently!

        • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 4:41 am

          Debbie, This was started LONG before Trump was president. I just read an article about the “War on Opiods” from 2003!! Hopefully Trump will the one to change things and shake up the Good Ole boys aka Politicians. My “great” insurance was tanked by Obama care, I am now completely reliant on the government to get medical care. Many Pain dox won’t deal with medicaid at all due to a few ppl ruining it for everyone. thankfully (I think) I have medicare, Disability which more dox are willing to take. My “gift of life” insurance co will probably never recover from things they were forced to do under the last president’s health plan. When more than 40% of people are getting free medical, and the rest are trying to pay for themselves and people who never even worked a single day in this country, the system WILL Collapse. BTW, I have lived in 4 other countries and if you think other governments take care of you, much less in YOUR language not theirs you’re *wrong.
          We may have the highest rate of opiod use in the world, but we also have by FAR the best and most accessible system. It may not be perfect, but compared to mexico, Canada or most of europe it is wayyyyy better. I came back to the U.S. because I could not get the treatment I needed overseas.It’s not perfect, and no president or prime minister should get to over ride a Doctor who has schooled for many years, but they all do.

          • Kimberlie Turnage on September 12, 2017 at 7:27 pm

            Well Trump is for all this “war on drugs” nonsense and “opiod epidemic” bs.It is not a partisan issue.Trump won’t save you.



          • Betsy on October 1, 2017 at 2:01 pm

            A group of democrats started this mess they are to blame



        • Peggy on November 8, 2017 at 10:58 pm

          Yes pos Trump did have a hand in this! He signed an order and I believe said he had a brother or other relative addicted — so that means its bad for all and all shall no longer have access. Oh but they won’t take away his alcohol will they! My sis nearly died because of alcohol but you don’t see this crap going on for it. And this will not stop the addicts getting their high or death – because they make and mix their stuff and the media and gov reports are fixed & made to state it is all due to this or that pain med – more bs.

      • April on August 8, 2017 at 3:02 pm

        Exactly the place I’m in right now. No warning. Sure, I saw the commercials, but had no clue they were about ME!! I’ve been on same meds, same dose for almost 13 years and go to my so called pain clinic now, with a great 4 as my pain scale….now its through the roof. All I can do is lay in the bed, or recliner. I’m disabled too. What an injustice this is. I need to know how we can overturn this travesty of a law!! It’s gonna cause more problems, suicides, people getting drugs illegally. They think they are really fixing something!!

        • Julie on August 24, 2017 at 5:49 pm

          Those of us who suffer from chronic pain are the ones the government wants to kill off. I have been taking opiate pain medications AND valium for over ten years. Here I am. I am not dead. I have not over dosed. I have never failed a UA nor missed an appointment, nor lost my meds. I am 100 % disabled. I have contacted an attorney regarding all of the CDC and DEA RECOMMENDATIONS. I advise all here to do the same. The new pain management doctor I was referred to by my PCP is an idiot. He cut my meds the first visit and DEMANDED I stop taking the valium prescribed by my psychiatrist for YEARS. The idiot FORCED me to come back for the two-week check for an ALLERGIC REACTION to the SAME meds I have been on for over ten years! He wants all the money he can get because he is in the middle of a wrongful death law suit for harvesting and injecting stem cells! My two-week visit was yesterday. The doctor cut my meds AGAIN and DEMANDED I be off of valium in the next 27 days. I am being FORCED to choose to live with pain or PTSD, crippling anxiety, and panic attacks. The doctor stated it was ILLEGAL to take opiates AND anxiety medication. I am yet to find ANY law that says this! I will not live like this. I cannot live like this. We must fight for our rights to be able to have the medications we have been prescribed for years. I have AVN, spinal and cervical stenosis, MS, Graves disease and the list goes on and on. This IS going to cause people to take their own lives or die from black market drugs. Way to MAGA! #Heroin # suicide WILL BE THE REAL PROBLEM! Those of us who do NOT abuse our meds in any way need to stand together and do something. Start petitions and whatever else we need to do! Contact an attorney regarding the medical mal practice happening to us.

          • Kellie on October 23, 2017 at 10:22 am

            Ok I will thank you,am lost and in pain and want to move but can’t.



          • Rachelle on November 3, 2017 at 1:52 am

            I called the DEA directly. I asked the agent directly if it’s against the law to prescribe opiates and benzodiazipine at the same time. The man that I spoke to said that at that exact moment there was a committee discussing this. He put me on a brief hold, came back and informed me that IT IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW TO BE PRESCRIBED BOTH!
            I’m fighting with the VA right now myself. They told me I had to choose between pain management or anxiety management. It’s totally ludicrous to tell me that. For everyone on here that’s ready to bite the bullet… baby WE MUST FIGHT BACK!!! I’ve had over 45 surgeries since 2000. I’m 44 years old. Kids and grandkids… they’re not taking shit from me because I’m going to keep screaming until someone listens to me!!! We are the Innocents! Alabama is one of the worst states about this. I live with a solid 7 on the pain scale, with medication. I’m hurting so bad right now that I can’t sleep. They’ve told me they will not provide me any more pain medication when I run out. They told me to come to the ER when I suffer from DT’S! I’M PISSED. BUT I’M GOING TO FIGHT!!! Hang in there. I know we can start a petition.



          • Virginia on November 14, 2017 at 6:31 am

            I know how you feel. After surviving Stage 3 lung cancer in 2008, I have been on pain meds and tranquillisers. I am ADHD and suffer from the common addition of panic/anxiety attacks. They’re still not sure how much radiation therapy and chemo has to do with one painful problem after another. Broken femur, broken hip, chronic back pain, and I’m not a candidate for surgery. My Dr has been telling my husband and I that it would be harder and harder to get the meds I have to have just to change my clothes. I’ve already considered suicide. If they cut my meds I will buy a gun. More people are going to take the same way out. Why don’t they make liquor more regulated? There has to be a way for us to get our meds. Go peacefully my friend.



        • Nancy Allen on October 13, 2017 at 2:49 pm

          I can’t get Norco for a broken shoulder. Broken bones HURT! I have fibro, inherent depression, bipolar disorder, degenerative disc disease and lower back scoliosis, ADD and high blood pressure. I can’t tolerate any of the hypertension meds, they made me ache all over or caused blurry vision, so I take Valium, since it appears to be stress related. I was born with these conditions, except for the broken shoulder, and I wish I had been born ‘normal’, but I had no say in the matter. I had to choose between 15 10mg Norco or Valium, couldn’t have both. Next, I have to choose between ADD medication or Valium. Can’t have both. I agree that these regulations are going to put law abiding citizens in a position where they may consider buying or actually buy street drugs. BTW, I never took over 20mg hydrocodone per day, ever.

      • Ronda on December 14, 2017 at 2:17 pm

        I find it hard to breathe with pain… I feel like I’m just waiting to die

    • C on May 9, 2017 at 8:13 pm

      Do you not think that these medications are already being used as a “last” resort? Every other treatment possible was tried by me prior to using opioid. I cannot function without them and have taken them king-term. They are still as effective for me as they were when I first started, and I am on the same dose.

    • karen shabandi on May 10, 2017 at 10:39 am

      What are you talking about “misleading”? This article is a Godsend! If you had any idea what chronic pain sufferers go thru to get their pain meds filled! Before I had a botched surgery a few few years ago, I had no use for “addicts” who couldn’t control themselves! Now I find myself on the other side of this issue and its horrible pain and if it wasn’t for the compassionate doctor who chooses to understand my condition-I most probably be dead as I could not eat due to the intolerable pain from my stomach bile ducts which has spasms!
      we need someone to advocate for us truly needy pain patients without the stigma of looking like you are a drug seeker! We need our voices heard a lot of us are giving up and dying!
      The gov’t always jumped in and goes overboard and hurt us more than they hurt us, Its 3:30 am and I am still up! I work for myself Thank God!!!
      We need a balanced examination!
      I am so sick of goody two shoes acting as though they know what I am going thru! No you don’t! Stay away from my medical privacy and allow the doctors to do what their jobs are, to help the sick and do no harm!

      • Mary Joyce on December 3, 2017 at 9:02 am

        I agree with you 100%. However, now Dr’s won’t prescribe any pain med’s, or some will for 3 to 5 day supply. Did you know that if Dr. prescribed pain med’s that the PHARMACIST can refuse to fill it. A pharmacist can stop what a doctor prescribes. Unbelievable. My doctor has lowered what I have left that help me, I get no pain med’s at all. Took away some of my Mirapex and Clonazapam 2MG. I take two a day. She is all freaked out and is going to lower it to 1 MG. She supposedly is so worried for me because it is addicting. One the visit report that day, it read DRUG SEEKING BEHAVIOR. Right.. that’s why when I heard from my old doctor that he would no longer prescribing any pain medications, I stop cold turkey. I was sick for 6 to 7 weeks. In the E.R. several times, told the physicians on duty what I did, I even told the nurses. They said I had the flue and sent me home each time. My doctor knew what I was going to do and wasn’t told what I’d go through. Believe me I never would have done that had I known. The nurse should have told me and so should the doctor. To my present doctor: So yeah, I’m drug seeking.

    • Rob on May 10, 2017 at 10:55 am

      I can only hope that something medical happens to you sir that require’s “Pain Medication” Then i would ask of you to re-visit this “Biases” statement you have made ! SMH

    • Debbie Dodge on May 10, 2017 at 11:54 pm

      I have bee taken off of my medication – Vicodin- for chronic pain for three years.
      Many lawmakers and doctors might believe this suicidal ideation and impulse is due to withdrawal. This is not so. For three years I have been a prisoner in my own home. I no longer drive, and worst of all, I no longer take care of my family. Each load of laundry, every dirty dish, and every meal cooked is done by my aging husband, who already works full time as a general manager.
      I used to go to my son’s football games and enjoy his jazz concerts. I used to enjoy going for a ride in the car with my husband, even if it was just a trip to the grocery store.
      Now, those two, dearest to me, see nothing but my life on the couch. I want to die. I wish I had the option of assisted suicide. No! I don’t want to die! I want my life back. Who are these people to make these decisions without thinking them through? Don’t tell me I haven’t seen the face of addiction, either. I would venture to guess we all have.
      I feel there are more creative ways to uphold my choice to take opioids for my pain and the addict’s choice to medically end their use of opioids.
      There is a substance in this world that can do wonders for the end to pain and the continuing of an active, productive life. I have so much to give to others. Even my smile can change the hearts of some people. I want to be out there. I want more activity than forcing myself to the bathroom and back to the dreaded couch. For the sake of humanity, do not interfere with the relationship between the patients and their doctors. The worst three years of my life go on.
      Please let me know if there is anywhere in the world where I can pick up my life as an American and move away, just to get the opioid pain management I need.

      • jean on September 3, 2017 at 9:17 pm

        you sound so much like what i go thur i get my pain meds for now at least but im hearing you might half to chooce between your pain meds or your anxity meds i lose any of my meds you mide as well dig my grave

      • jean on September 3, 2017 at 11:06 pm

        i so feel your pain i cant leave my home do to high anxity and the fear of being out of my home i suffer from mental and phicial problems and now im hearing i might half to choose between pain meds or mental meds either of them get taken away i will die im not a strong person i cant handle everyday life with out my meds so thanks to the dea my kids might loss there mom

    • Christina on May 12, 2017 at 9:44 am

      Mauareen Kielian,
      I have to disagree with your opinion,& find it quite shortsighted & sadly inaccurate. The fact of the matter is chronic pain exists for millions of patients, with varying diseases, circumstances  & medical issues that give them legitimate reasons for narcotic pain control. Perhaps your inexperience with having chronic pain personally leaves you with a lack of insight people with severe pain have. I tried everything under the sun before There was nothing left to try. Who’s ” fault” is it that there are no alternatives for do many in severe pain except narcotics. My Dr put me on oxycodone, which I don’t request as well add other pain patients in narcotics. It’s the only option for millions. & contrary to what many think, if you’re in pain there’s no euphoria. Only lessening of pain to make it bearable, to give patients some quality of life. My pain was severe to the point where I suffered 3 strokes before I was 32, all attributed to untreated pain. That’s not acceptable. Being a pain patient isn’t easy, especially for someone home & bed bound like me. Never the less I’m always willing to jump through the hoops the government created, that make me sicker because of my specific disease. But even before this brewhaha was even a factor, I was on a pain contract, mandatory urine screening etc. Unfortunately apart from being required to see your Dr every 90 days, & having to have a paper prescription, the.DEA & CDC guidelines are not law, but suggestions to Drs which make them fearful to treat legitimate pain. Are you aware the numbers the DEA/CDC are using to tally this
      ” accidental overdose epidemic”, include not only legitimate pain patients, but also those who buy drugs illegally in the street & heroin. How is that a fair assessment. it’s not it simply tries to criminalize pain patients. Some food for thought why hasn’t big Parma, the FDA, DEA, fought for alternatives other then opioids for chronic pain?. Were you aware that there’s a 1.8 billion dollar government vested bill to put everyone in rehab & on suboxine, which you can Google & find it’s one of the most abused drugs already. But it’s more profitable & most don’t look that far into whats pushing this criminalization of people who simply want some quality of life. Millions die from alcohol related deaths, why isn’t they’re such an uproar.? I hope you or someone you love never have to experience chronic long term pain. But I can guarantee it’ll change you opinions on pain treatment. You are the judgmental type off person that I’d love to be able to touch & give pain & all my dungeons to. If take it back, if never wish this on anyone. But throughout my experience I’ve found the only way to know is to feel it for yourself. I promise you’ll be in a fetal position being for relief within minutes.

    • Mark on May 12, 2017 at 8:11 pm

      If you suffered from chronic pain due to a motor vehicle accident you would your f___ing words

      • Christina on January 12, 2018 at 5:34 pm

        I guess you misunderstood me im going through the same thing they want to lower our meds or tell us to take extra dose of Tylenol im for people getting their pain meds including myself I had to go on disability because of this without my meds that did not get rid of pain but at least I could function. I’m with everyone on here not against them

    • Susan Ayscue on May 16, 2017 at 7:22 pm

      You lie.

    • robert clayton on May 17, 2017 at 7:47 pm

      Grossly misinformed person. Opiate pain meds are a lifesaver for countless sufferers. You aer just wrong. And cold-hearted obviously.

    • Jill Elizabeth Raffray on May 18, 2017 at 5:53 pm

      Dear Maureen,
      You and many other’s will be offended by what I am going to say….however it is time someone spoke the straight truth.
      Most who are ALL FOR what the DEA has done are not CHRONIC PAIN SUFFERERS and most have lost a loved one due to over dose. I am deeply sorry for the lives lost and for the grief it causes. The matter of truth is……IT’S NOT THE OPIOID fault. It did not jump out of the bottle and force it’s way into anyone. THEY MADE A CHOICE to take the drug and as accidental as it was….they took too much or mixed it with another drug and made it a lethal dose. What you are doing is taking accountability for their actions not theirs to have. We are all accountable (IF WE ARE HONEST) For our actions. You are putting accountability on a pill.
      And NO!!!! It doesn’t MAKE a Dr. Look more closely at the patients pain and other ways to alleviate it. Most don’t give a crap. Especially a Pain Management Doctor. All he or she cares about is not losing their license to practice medicine. That’s it!!!!
      What the DEA and people such as yourself are doing is making JUNKIES out of otherwise law abiding good people. They are looking to street drugs more to give them some relief from their pain.
      MOST with Chronic pain are also disabled and on Social Security or some small income to get by. To think having them drive 2 to 3 hours some time to see a Doctor for PAIN MEDICATION IS OK is just plain without Empathy or understanding of their situation. THEY CANNOT AFFORD ALL THE DAMN HOOPS they are being made to jump through. They are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and lights, water, etc. At the paying of the bills and medicines for other ailments….there is no money left over for Entertainment….you know…entertainment such as FOOD Maureen!!!!.What the hell if they can’t eat when it’s all said and done…right Maureen???? People such as yourself should really take a minute to think these things all the way through but…why would you….you aren’t struggling with Chronic pain or lack of food are you???
      Chronic pain sufferers should NOT have to suffer as they do. No Maureen….they shouldn’t.
      I’m all for a solution to their pain other than medication but sometimes there is no solution other than medication.
      To all of you Chronic pain sufferers…..I apologize….for people such as this and for the DEA….You all have my Love and Prayers for a solution to your pain. Forgive the people who plain just don’t give a crap. For those who have lost loved ones due to overdose…I’m truly sorry and you have my deepest Sympathy but a choice was made and it wasn’t made by a pill.
      DR. WEBSTER…I APPLAUD YOU AND DEEPLY APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS. it’s horrible to watch someone in pain and have no way to help them…oh wait….there is a way….Throw them in a car and make them travel….1….2….3 hours or more to see one of these PAIN MANAGEMENT DOCTORS…yeah….that’ll help.

      • Cristina on July 22, 2017 at 3:51 am

        You. ……I can’t even respond! !

      • Doris on July 24, 2017 at 8:57 am

        It is true. For 10 years as a chronic pain patient, and now being over 50, my Dr. has said that most all his colleagues now will not risk their license. My mother, two sisters and a brother all died from being bedridden because of this disease. Now I am the lucky recipient and have been held at four .5 hydrocodone for 5 years. Now, I am told that is too much. I can barely walk now, me and my heating pad and recliner are best friends. The joy is I still have to work full time and can’t sit for an extended period of time. Yet no one cares anymore. I drive through a homeless camp of over 200 people. I now understand their situation. If they are drug addicts I believe it is because they are UNDERTREATED PAIN PATIENTS. Why are people who abuse not looked at as having a problem unrelated? We are flooded with alcohol at the stores. The issue here is attorneys and judges and lawmakers enjoy drinking. Alcohol is responsible for as many deaths and much more abuse than being prescribed 4 of the least effective narcotics available. It is sad to say, but I hope that the healthy people become chronic pain sufferers and are denied care. I don’t drink, smoke or use illegal drugs. I pay taxes and now there is no reason to see a doctor because they will flat out refuse care. Two years ago I was sent to the emergency room as I was throwing up blood for taking NSAIDs for relief. They would rather you bleed to death and die than offer help. I have decided that this will most likely be my fate. While the lawmaker comes home from a hard day at work and pours himself a heavy drink from his fully stocked liquor cabinet.

        • Kellie on October 23, 2017 at 11:42 am

          Aman

        • Andrea on November 17, 2017 at 2:09 pm

          I wish that someone would spearhead a March on Washington so to speak. Protest and revolt! Contact all your representatives,state and local, sign petitions, etc.

          And press for a ban on alcohol so our lawmakers stop governing under the influence and comfort they enjoy. Remember what happened to Prohibition? Didn’t last long, did it?

      • Ree on July 25, 2017 at 3:55 pm

        Very well put
        Amen to the truth

    • Lugnuttt on July 10, 2017 at 3:37 pm

      You obviously haven’t had unbearable pain for most of your life. You sound like a pompous, egotistical, narcissistic know it all. Perhaps one day you will understand true pain that doesn’t go away and only then will you truly understand.

      • Billie Sheads on July 17, 2017 at 9:40 pm

        You hit the nail on the head! I fear that the death rate will rise because chronic pain patients can’t get the meds they need and take matters into their own hands- with a gun.

    • Sue on July 12, 2017 at 10:12 pm

      Addiction does happen, but not when it’s a question of quality to life. Most chronic pain sufferers, including myself that manifest pain as a result of a disease, accident what have you, just want to ease pain as to not miss everything in life. On the couch sitting with ice packs or heating pads, or intolerant to nsaids or disease modifying medicines wasting away is mentally exhausting. So having a small amount of pain medicine available to enable you to go to food store or do laundry or possible to enjoy family time should never be taken away. not looking for any “high”, as many disease drivin pain has cognitive dysfunction anyway, why would I want to be brain dead or miss what I am trying I actual take part in? It is intrusive and unacceptable!!

      • BBillie Sheads on July 17, 2017 at 9:42 pm

        The definition of addiction is MISUSE of narcotics. Most chronic pain patients take their meds as prescribed to get the relief bthey need. Therefore, they are not addicted.

    • Jbennett74 on July 14, 2017 at 1:47 pm

      I Do Hope You’ll Reconsider Your Misguided Comment, and Be Reasonable Enough to Admit That You’re Dead Wrong.
      Do You, (Honestly) Believe The Up-Schedule of Hydrocodone is a Simple Adjustment in Protocol? Do You Also Believe They’ve Merely Reclassified The Drug, and Now Chronic Pain Patient’s Win(?) Because Their Doctor’s Suddenly Realized They Need to Take a More Involved Approach to Managing Their Pain? Is (That) Truly How You Think This Works?
      I Certainly Hope Not.
      Let Me Help You Understand Why (Your Comment), Not the Author of this Article, is Destructive, and Misleading.
      Aside from Helping Such Falsifications Gain Support Through Dangerously Inaccurate Assumptions as to How the Protocol for Treating Chronic Pain Has Effortlessly Shifted into a Program We Could Only Dream Of. You’re Sorely Mistaken if You Seriously Believe Our Doctor’s Have Stepped Up, Rather Than Checked Out. No, They Did Not Begin Taking an Uncharacteristic Interest in Managing Our Pain, via- Becoming “More Involved.” In Fact, it Was Just the Opposite. They Became Less Involved. So Less Involved, that For Many/The Majority of Us…Our Shiny New Protocol Guidelines Went a Little Something Like This: I’m Sorry to inform You that After 12, Uneventful, Compliant Years with Our Practice, We Regret to Inform You That Today Will be Your Last Visit Here. Here’s a 30 Day Supply of Your Meds, Good Luck!
      Yeah, I Don’t Think Too Many People Felt a Real Sense of Teamwork with the New & Improved “Involvement” they Received. I Certainly Didn’t. In Fact, Aside from Being Nauseous and Devastated, I Had a Bit of a Tough Time Understanding How I Was Supposed To Just “Shake it Off” and Search for a New Doctor to “Trust” After That Neglegent, Subpar, and Unethical, Patient Abandonment Nonsense.
      Not that it Mattered How I Felt, or That it Ruined Any Quality of Life I Had Prior to Learning that I’m just a Disposable Nobody, but You’ll Never Believe How That Fun Little Hell Ride of a Journey Turned Out… New Doctor? Accepting New Pain Patient’s? Get Real. I Hope You’ll Never Have to Know First Hand, the Pain and Suffering We’re Forced to Endure, but I Do Hope You Can Someday Understand: Its People Like You, with Your Misinformation and Your Confident Posture While You’re Spewing About Something That You CLEARLY DON’T UNDERSTAND. In the Future, Please Don’t Be So Quick to Demonize the Entirety of Something You Only Know Particles About.

      • BBillie Sheads on July 17, 2017 at 9:46 pm

        Wonderful reply to the idiotic rules tossed will nilly onto need people

    • Adnor on July 15, 2017 at 3:29 am

      Obviously you’ve never had severe long term pain. How bout we let our doctors to the diagnosing and treatment and people that don’t know stay out of it

    • April tyler on July 17, 2017 at 10:41 am

      You have no idea Maureen until you have been in our place. I have a rare brain condition and had a stroke, and i had the worst 5yrs of my life going through what i call ” torture” treatments that wasnt even for my rare condition! I had more mini strokes over 25, wheb my pain was uncontrolled. I also was a new mother. I was 18! I am now 34 and I have had no more pain or mini strokes or anything since being on pain meds! I have given birth to 3 more children and I could not have done that without these types of meds.

      Other issue is my mother right now is crying in pain cant move fight stage 4 lung cancer and they are to scared to give her meds for it! The treatments make her pain worse too. She is about to stop taking treatments and die because the amount of pain she is in!!!!!

      So you tell me they dont do good! Tell me our lives aren’t worth living on pain meds! Go ahead!
      God forbid you or your family members ever go through what we do.

    • shirley b stokes on July 18, 2017 at 2:38 pm

      You are grossly ignorant about pain treatment management Ms Keilian. Compliant patients with their LEGALLY obtained rx treating chronic pain conditions do not compare to those who abuse illegally obtained drugs. We do not get “high” from our meds. It reduces, not eliminates, our pain hopefully enough so that we can do our required daily living activities. Like laundry, or prepare a meal. And for many people opiates used “chronically” DOES decrease their pain. I am a R.N., with a spinal cord injury and chronic pain from that injury. I no longer can practice in my profession, due to the SCI and the chronic pain. I assure you, I had much rather be working those 12 hour shifts in ICU or ER again, than the life I have now. Limiting access to legal pain medications is NOT going to slow the influx of illegal drugs into our country, onto our streets. THAT is where the abuse occurs!

    • Shar on July 18, 2017 at 9:25 pm

      You Obviously have NOT suffered for one second with pain! Because if you have…You would NOT be so IGNORANT as to write about something you know absolutely nothing about! When you suffer form a debilitating pain condition and the only way to get any pain relief at all…Is to take pain medications! Believe me you would be begging for them! It is the only way us pain patients can even have any kind of a life at all!!! They are not perfect but they certainly make it so we can get up off the couch and get out of the house!! So…don’t comment on someone else’s situation until you walk a mile in there shoes! Otherwise you are just an uncompassionate, ignorant, idiot!!
      I have had chronic pain for 20 years & opiates are the only thing that help me be able to get up off the couch and get out into the world!! I have tried every other treatment available & pain pills are the only thing that work on a consistant basis! It sucks! SO…just be glad that you don’t have to deal with this! But also don’t judge people that do! Because you never know when you might be the one who ends up having a horrible pain problem!

    • Mark on July 19, 2017 at 4:35 pm

      You say you care about loss of life. What about liquor wine and beer. I work in a ER. This is the bigger problem. An we let people make beer at home. How many life’s are destroyed from this? To many to count.
      People who abuse opioids deal with them. Don’t throw a blanket on it. And hurt people who need them.
      I am tired every time we have problem with something we tend to make rules and laws to hurt everyone. No personal responsibility anymore.
      I have taken opioids for 22yrs no problem. I hear when someone who OD’s they have several drugs in there system. I don’t know who there dr’s are. But as a regular person I can’t get this many drugs. Again deal with the problem people. I am so angry

      • Doris on July 24, 2017 at 9:10 am

        Great comment. Why is it that anyone over 21 can walk in and buy a basketful of very strong alcohol, drink it all up, drive under the influence to their local grocery only to be freely given another large basketful? I’ll tell you why. Because lawmakers, doctors, pharmacists and men and women of power love to come home and pour a glass or shot of alcohol to relax, or heck, get totally drunk. They consider it fun and social to drink whilst there are thousands of people who die from alcoholism and thousands of people who are killed in alcohol related deaths. Yet someone who has a spinal disease and does not drink, cannot get the most basic care in order to work. Now that is screwed up. Tell me that is not a total double standard?

        • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 6:19 am

          Exactly. Anyone catch the Superbowl? How many BEER commercials were shown?? Yet there are more innocent people killed by DRUNK DRIVERS than “opiod” deaths in any given year. the two cannot even be compared. That is not to mention the long-term costs and deaths from heart disease, kidney failure, liver failure, the list is endless. But alcohol put a lot of money into lobbying and therefore politician’s pockets.
          What about ppl dying of heart disease and diabetes-related deaths due to OBESITY? Yet, turn on any tv, open any magazine and right next to the Beer ads, scotch ads, etc. are the potato chip ads, the McDonald’s ads, and More. Our children have reached an all time high for Morbid Obesity. WHO will protect the children from McDonalds, Burger King and Frito Lay?
          Most pills that are bought on the “streets are probably bought by MEth addicts, the same ones who endanger our police, firemen, and cut loose how many gallons of TOXIC chemicals PER METH LAB.
          Where are all the watchdog groups and Emergency Task Forces to address the METH Epidemic? Oh I know: they’re lined up to berate ONE Dr. for writing meds for a person who was using other drugs without their knowledge.
          Ahhhh, this whole situation is BEYOND MADDENING and ILLOGICAL.

    • Cindy on July 20, 2017 at 12:26 pm

      Most not all are using these drugs for a high. The kids crush and snort them. They chose to do it. What you need to work on is how are kids are getting these medications. Not penaltze the people who need them for pain. And someone who uses them for pain the brain sends to the pain area, so when their taken off they don’t have the withdrawals an addict has they have their server pain back.Parents need to be proactive everyone lives a busy life, we need to slow down. Most of these death of teens is not from a legal prescription. Not judging

      • Sam on August 8, 2017 at 8:20 am

        Please don’t share false information. Opiate pain medication works by attaching to the opiate receptors in your brain it does not go to the part of your body affected by pain. Furthermore anyone who takes opiates for any length of time will have withdrawal symptoms when stopping taking any opiate medication it’s science.

      • David on August 13, 2017 at 10:17 pm

        So true. They fail to state that it is heroin and fentanyl that t these individuals are dying from. But, all opiates are lumped in to the same category. Now some individuals will turn to the black market or streetd to find relief and possibly OD because they don’t know what dose to give themselves or how to use them.
        What’s next nerve medication that is addictive and people can possibly od.
        How much more intrusive rules regulations we will have to endure.
        My quality of life h has already changed drastically due to reduction. Brain surgery may be an option.for me, but not a perminant solution.

      • Susan on September 12, 2017 at 4:52 am

        Parents need to stop neglecting and emotionally, physically and sexually abusing their children who go on to become addicts to self-medicate their resultant mental illnesses. Parents who make little addicts were child abusers. Lookup ACEStoohigh or adverse childhood experiences. Child abuse, often in the name of discipline, is what is destroying lives and this country – not pills.

        • Mary Joyce on December 4, 2017 at 3:07 pm

          I don’t want to offend you, but aren’t you categorizing parents just like those that are taking away our pain medicines? That really isn’t fair. You posted this on my 60th birthday so I’m not a kid. I could tell you stories about my childhood and as an adult, (but far less) that would curl and uncurl your hair. I experimented with alcohol and pot, they made me sick. I was not addicted to the pain med’s I was on. My body was though. If I were able to go back 1 year, and wake up with no pain..first off I would have thought I died. Seriously, if all my pain was gone I’d flush the pills. It wouldn’t bother me not to take those pills. All I ever wanted was for a doctor to find out what was wrong with me. There are some awesome parents out there, please don’t blame all parents. Those awesome parents, I’ve known a few who’s kids didn’t do well in life. Got into trouble etc…I had bad parents and that included a few step dads who were really bad. I don’t live in the past. I firmly believe that everything that has happened to me made me the person I am today with the exception of my health issues. =^-^=

    • Brandy on July 21, 2017 at 9:00 pm

      Sounds to me that Miss Maureen is a fool, especially if she’s backing the fact that with the DEA and the CDC with their newly implemented drug monitoring system and the reclassification of mild opiods to make it appear harder for those who need the medication to sustain a semi normal quality of life. I’m sure sure your a smart woman so tell me have you ever heard of the old saying “Where there’s a will, there’s a way?” This hogwash you and the ppl you support condone will produce addicts not save them. Do you think that person whose in severe pain will continue to suffer needlessly, NO…they’ll look to buy drugs on the street or maybe turn to the less expensive alternative heroin, some may even stop contemplating suicide and actually commit it. Can you even stop for a moment and think of those who are in extreme pain? How’s this helping them when doctors are scared of legal representations and therefore change patients dosages or switch them to a lesser effective drug. You may as well just say…..we don’t care about your REAL pain, we just wanna stop the idiots who are searching for a high instead of a way to live a better quality of life. In fact the government needs to just keep their damn noses out of our personal medical care! So tell me oh wise one…. alcoholism and alcohol in getting ral have been a huge epidemic in our country for decades with each year passing theres more alcohol related deaths or serious injuries stemming from drunk drivers, so why isn’t our grand government worried about the family of 4 who died in a auto accident caused by a 21yr old out partying it up? Ohh no that’s right….the government collects taxes off the sales and let’s not forget the massive fines paid to the judicial system when ones caught driving under the influence. Simply put…uncle Sam profits HUGE off the alcohol epidemic do if they put stringent policies in place it will end up hurting their bottom line and we can’t have that, can we? You honestly are trying to convince us that the government officials, CDC, DEA…whoever else has created all these added problems in the best interest of patients, which is poposterous. It’s all about CONTROL & CASH!! What’s next?? Ohh America’s too fat so we better put stipulations on greasy fast food joints that’s threatening the health of so many? Gimme a break. The government shouldn’t be allowed to tell me if I’m in enough pain to warrant a damn pain pill especially a weak narcotic such as Vicoden. Your comment is just foolish.
      *End of rant*

      • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 6:32 am

        Unfortunatey, “Maureen” is a perfect example of people who just Don’t Care. They hear it on the news and agree without knowing a thing about the truth. It’s ironic as the Same People Don’t trust the “Media” for ANYhting else.
        They hear our arguments, but shrug off the comparisons to alcohol-related illness or deaths. They agree that there is a problem, but don’t want to stop and think about these facts like heroin users being lumped in with honest, rule-following people living with horrible pain and circumstances.
        I KNOW a few Maureens. And I know a few Maureens who Know ME and know the Pain i live with. They still think the government has the right to carry on, even if they HATE the presidents who started this whole mess.
        It is a distraction from the TRUE crimes of politicians, funded not by “big Pharma” or “private insurance cos”, but by alcohol lobbyists and others of their ilk. If cigarettes are SO BAd, why the heck are they still LEGAL? Ohhh, cause tobacco puts a LOT of $$$ into the good ol’e boys’ chokers. and CIGARETTES and SMOKING KILL *way more people and are accessible to Way more people than ANY opiate.
        Too and there is not a petition attached to this. Google “The PainDr.” and read his advocating for us!! He actually does a HUGE amount of good for Chronic Pain and its sufferers. And no, I am in no way affiliated with him. I’m just a person living with pain and trying to get by.

    • Cristina on July 22, 2017 at 3:02 am

      You are obviously not a long term patient! It doesn’t matter what you are on! The point being, if you are prescribed pain, anxiety meds,u name it. .. It is lethal to stop taking these meds on a dime!!!!!!! You need your Dr. to help you slowly get off the meds!!!! The DEA is slowly killing the honest pain patients by threat!! Through the pharmacies they threaten daily,by audits about scripts,and have them refuse to fill meds they have been filling for yrs. They say to those that have to travel, (because this is not a prescribed med. In their area)they fill close to where they live, yet they tell these pharmacies to not fill for scripts from around 50 miles! !!! What r u to do??? This past week, this happened to me for the 6th time!! The pharmacy says, where out. In the past few years, the smaller pharmacies have been threatened,and the DEA is killing us!!! Again, after filling for a legit Dr. ,the DEA did an audit on my,fairly newly, 6mo. Pharmacy, and they had to completely, immediately, turn 4 people down for their scripts!!! This is deadly!!! I found a pharmacy in the area,he was completely shady from the beginning!!!! I ha to pay 200$ more, and was told they discounted it 100$ !!!!! You are ripping the honest pain patients off!! They charged me 200$ more,once again, don’t take insurance, like all of them in the past few years,!! I had to give this pharmacy 200$ more and was made to pay that in “CASH”!!!! (“You have to pay cash for this type of medicine)!!! R U CRAZY! ! I did it because I am a single parent with no financial support from my ex husband with my 2 kids! ! I have to work! !!! This is all the DEA!! You’ve shut down the bad Drs, LEAVE THE LEGIT ALONE!!!! I CAN’T SUPPORT MY FAMILY, WHILE BEING RIPPED OFF!!!! It sux that I have to be shorted 5 on this, 10 on this, and 20 on the most important for me because of the DEA!!!!

    • Cristina on July 22, 2017 at 3:38 am

      I’m a long term “pain patient”. You are one of those who have a legitimate Dr. Those Dr’s that want to “treat ” the patients to get them off the drug!!! You have obviously been to a “pill mill”!!!!!!!!! I’m so sick of people like you having this (pre)- judgmental idealism! !!

    • TexVet on July 23, 2017 at 6:27 pm

      People like you and the government idiots that make statements that blame pharmaceutical companies because someone you knew was too stupid to know you cannot use a hair dryer in the bath, Iron a shirt while wearing it, not knowing better not to place a plastic bag over their head and OH YEA that they must be TOLD opiates COULD be addictive.
      However, IMHO those who “get” addicted so easily are most likely weak minded to begin with and most likely drink alcohol with their meds (which is STUPID and one shouldn’t have to be told not to do it).
      For idiots like you and the government morons that make laws that restrict honest pain patients meds, once again it shows no amount of college can make someone have common sense!
      punishing honest, law abiding, rule following pain patients with gestapo tactics in order to stop drug abusers is like the same idiots that believe restricting our 2nd amendment rights will curb gang / gun violence! When will all you morons understand CRIMINALS DON’T FOLLOW THE LAWS! and because they don’t follow the laws, more laws only punish those who are not weak minded junkies just like restrictive gun laws will do about as much to stop gun violence as pushing on your break pedal to stop the other car from hitting you when you aren’t moving to begin with.
      My only wish is that everyone who has the moronic beliefs and have no problem punishing pain patients to save weak minded, rule breaking drug addicts at some point in their life (say around 30) has a debilitating event so you too can be denied relief and quality of life.

      so you go ahead and punish those of us who follow the rules yet are thrown into a tail spin of misery due to out of control pain and ZERO quality of life, just to save your sad excuse of a family member who abuses drugs (and most likely did so before they got their first pain script), then when your weak minded family member OD’s from some other drug have fun finding another scapegoat.

      I find it amazing that adults have to be told to be careful and follow the rules, personally I think its just skirting personal responsibility and accountability and through their grief they don’t care who they punish as long as they don’t have to hang the responsibility and accountability of choosing to be a drug addict and choosing drugs to escape reality on their family member.
      and yes, I don’t believe the BS PC crap that addiction is a disease, its a choice, that is unless you were born a crack baby.

      Am I being crass? rude? zero compassion?
      Try living in our lives after morons in the government prodded by people like you make addicts of patients who follow the rules simply because of the medications that helped us live some sort of normal, and making a victims of addicts that made a conscious choice to abuse drugs.

      Its like suing a gun manufacture because your loved one took one of their guns, stuck it to their head and pulled the trigger.. its their choice, the gun manufacture didn’t force them to do it.

    • Shanon on July 23, 2017 at 9:28 pm

      Classic idiot talking from where the sun won’t shine. My life is completely turned upside down. I have been cut off my pain medication and my panic disorder Meds. I’ve been taking them for over a decade with no side effects or problems in any way. Now I can’t work, exercise or even socialize for fear I won’t be able to stand on my own two feet and fly off into a major panic attack as where I can’t breathe…PLEASE JUST LET THE DOCTORS DO THEIR JOBS. Let the DEA STAY IN COLUMBIA WITH THEIR PROSTITUTES AND DOPE PARTIES AT OUR EXPENSE,

      • Cristina on August 1, 2017 at 12:21 am

        I agree! !! The Dea has already focused on the bad drs. And have gotten rid of them in Florida! This Is why I have to travel 8 hrs to a legitimate dr. Only works 3 days a week and sees roughly 9 patients a day! He has helped me to reduce my pain meds,not prescribe more!!!! Yet the Dea keeps finding every pharmacy that will take me and threatens them because of the distance. I have been hording my meds and suffering, not taking my meds every day because I know this will keep happening with every pharmacy I find! !! I will eventually have to check into a rehab, where insurance will pay, (drives up rates) to be able to function! !!

      • Maggie on August 18, 2017 at 4:23 pm

        I was going to a pain specialist. I was put on 3 Percocet a day. I have been diagnosed with Fibro, MS and migraines so bad they cause brain bleeds. Then Rhabdomyolisis from a med I was put on for cholesterol,which was not needed. Nueropathy in legs and feet. They put me on oxycodone 4 15 mg a day. Helped most of the time. 6 years ago. Went in 4 months ago and all the PA’s were gone. Saw same one for 6 years. Dr came in and put me on Generic Subutex. 2 8mg a day, with no info. Never heard of them. Took 1 next day then 1/2 later in evening. Passed out on couch and my 13 year old cat woke me 3 times that night, crying and hitting me in face to wake me. I’d stopped breathing. I cut in quarters and took 4 mg a day which I still do. I’m so sick on them. Horrible intestinal pain and just stuck on couch in pain. I never abused them. I live alone and a senior woman. It’s all a racket. Big Pharma support Chemtrails (look them up if you don’t know) I live in Oregon. Someone said to order Kratom for pain,energy and anxiety. From a good source. I’m going to try. Desperately want off Subutex. ( generic) Alchohol kills 88,000 a year in our country. What they are doing to us is criminal. Maybe we need to raise our voices together against being treated like drug addicts. Also had cancer twice. They don’t care about us. Letting Government rule our pain. Such a pack of lies. Population control like a person on here said. Disabled people are an unwanted expense. I wish you all luck but things need to change. I’m sorry I have a bad migraine ( flashing lights) so not able to word it how I want to. Prayers for all of us. I am so sorry. It’s so very wrong

    • Me on July 24, 2017 at 12:44 am

      1 life every 19 minutes probably has more to do with chronic pain patients being cut off of their only relief from daily suffering since they now are without adequate pain relief! Do you realize how many suicides this crack down on medicine has caused? I didnt think so! So go break an arm an take an advil then come back with your nonsense

    • Ashley on July 27, 2017 at 4:29 pm

      Are you in chronic pain?? Yes narcotic pain meds can be addicting. I along with many people in true pain know this. Many if not most people in chronic pain get dependent on these meds. Dependency and addiction are as different as night and day. I made a decision many years ago that I was ok with being dependent on pain meds. The worst 5 or 6 years of my life was when my pain wasn’t under control. Suicide enters the minds of a lot of people in chronic pain. So to have any kind of a normal life I chose pain meds over a much shortened life in pain. People like you have no idea what our lives are like in chronic pain. Every day we here people like you preaching about the evils of pain meds. All you are doing is making it harder for us to live in pain. Leave us alone and let our doctors treat us.

    • Sandy on July 31, 2017 at 2:32 pm

      Your profound ignorance on this issue is absolutely astounding! How dare you come to this forum and spout your pious sermon about chronic pain and the medications needed to allow for any quality of life! Where do you come off stating that the medications don’t work? Have you d alt with severe chronic pain and had that theory personally tested for your own benefit or is this some stupid artical you just happened to come across written by some bureaucrat who has also never suffered from chronic pain? I happen to know for a fact that half the so-called “studies” done by people in the medical industry have a pre-determined outcome and are flawed at their very core. I wouldn’t wish chronic pain on anyone, but maybe you need a little taste of it for a while to see if your opinion holds any water!

    • Christina Duncan on August 1, 2017 at 6:24 pm

      I have suffered with a terrible headache for over 15 years now. I have a cyst in the center of my brain and empty sella symdrome. this headache has never gone away in the last 15 years, I have been taking pain killers to help with the pain, and like I said it helps it never had taken it away all the way but at least I was able to function. I go to my pain management every 28 days because that is already the law where I live. They also have already started to take away pills. Now I am in so much pain I have a hard time functioning. I sleep in a recliner because it hurts to much to lye down on a bed. The people who think that taking the pills away from people like me and many others like me should be ashamed of themselves. I have Many MRI”s and CT scans to prove my pain is real. Also there is NO cure for what I have. So what do you suggest that I do? When my pain care Dr. can no longer give me any kind of pain killer because of so called do gooders?

    • LizC on August 4, 2017 at 9:44 pm

      This statement is not true. There have in fact been almost no long term randomized controlled studies. Certainly not enough to make these ridiculous statements. This is just more spouting of propaganda from the biased, narrow minded anti pain med fanatics.

    • Robert on August 6, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Thanks to Maines new laws your a second class citizen and discriminated against if you live in this state! Their not hurting the addicts their killing the pain patients the government need to keep its nose out of where it dont belong! Tobacco ond alcohol kill more people in 1 day than opoids in a year! Its disgusting what their doing to us!!!!

    • Leeha Carr on August 7, 2017 at 1:01 pm

      F**k you lady. The stupid idiots who OD on these drugs screw it up for the rest of us. I can’t help it that they can’t handle life or just want to get so stoned for the fun of it. I live in constant pain and am bedridden. Opiods have allowed me to get out of bed. Heroin is where the large number of cases come from. Not pills. So don’t take away our meds to save those addicted bastards that don’t need them and just want to get high. I don’t care about them. I hope you get hurt and have to lie there in pain like getting your teeth pulled out without any numbing medicine every hour of every day for years.

    • Timothy on August 9, 2017 at 5:04 am

      I have been suffering in moderate to severe chronic pain for 4+ years now. In my state (MAINE), virtually all medical clinics providing primary care physicians have blanket administrative policies barring the prescribing of narcotics even as verifying evidence is supplied that I continue to suffer greatly and have found all other alternatives to treat pain have failed. I intend to explore possible reasons for litigation against the clinics, the corporate owners of the clinics and my physician about this matter. The injuries by refusal of opioid use are a greatly diminished abilities to accomplish basic human living tasks, greatly diminished social interactions, inability to work, depressed and hopelessness feelings, suicidal ideation to name a few of the consequences of being refused opioid pain relieving meds. I have never had any addictions to illegal or prescribed medicines and this can be proven easily by statements from family and friends. I have been exposed because of homelessness, to many addicts as that is the primary reason for the majority of homeless populations who continually offer pain relieving narcotics for sale illegally but have refused to stoop to that level as many in my circumstances do. Doctors who practice under these policies are in fact driving millions of people to the dealers of illegally obtained narcotics thereby by withholding this medicine to those whose conditions warrant use of them have created a huge consumer base for the dealers thereby creating more addicts then discouraging and lessening the incidence of addiction. The administrators who design these no prescribe policies are in fact guilty of denying a basic human right to their pts. and are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. My dr. upon my first visit while I described my condition and the pain and suffering that has bee ineffectively addressed for over four years now, stated “I could lose my license, and I do not have the time to do the monitoring work” I have heard it stated that these non narcotic prescribing clinics are the drug cartels best friends! How true that statement is from my perspective having read extensively about this non-narcotic prescribing trend.

    • Doug Wilks on August 10, 2017 at 10:24 am

      I have been a chronic pain patient for 20 years and have done well with my pain protocol. Pain meds are only PART of managing chronic pain. I stretch, use heat therapy, tens unit, and strengthen muscles that provide support to the painful area. Others, I know, use different, pain management strategies. Pain meds are an important part of an overall treatment schedule! Without it, I couldn’t exercise, which leads to no stretching… etc. A domino effect which leads to severe DEPRESSION and SUICIDAL IDEATION! I will leave you “pretend Doctors” with this, IF YOU HAVN’T EXPERIENCED CHRONIC, SEVERE, INTRACTABLE, PAIN, YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS COMMENTING ABOUT IT!! Please go comment about something you know about and leave us out of your ignorant prejudiced position.

    • Kyle Hyatt on August 10, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      You obviously are not a pain sufferer. I have been treated for chronic pain for more than two decades. The new revision regarding the use of opiates for chronic pain causes many increased pain. I, for one, can attest to this. After taking high doses of opiates to counter my chronic pain for 18 years my pain level was high but tolerable. I was able to have a semblance of normalcy although I would often feel an increase in pain afterward. Since having my opiates drastically reduced I now have no life! Pain has consumed every waking hour. I cannot understand why every person’s meds need to be altered when many people did find a significant pain relief with opiates. I have never failed a drug test, misused my meds in any way, yet I now live in pain beyond any level that any person should endure. Wake up and realize that there is not a cure all solution. But since the recent changes in med policy I feel like I’ve lost my voice in my pain treatment.

    • Liz Reynolds on August 10, 2017 at 2:54 pm

      I suffer from MS and a hereditary disease CMT. Double whammy. You live one day of my life then you will be more understanding. Norco is what helps me to live a somewhat normal life.

    • Airmid Miller on August 13, 2017 at 10:58 am

      “pandemic of chronic pain patients in our country”

      A majority of current chronic pain patients are “baby boomers”, which is the largest “generation” that has ever been since recorded history and guess what, we are getting older and living longer. So the use of the word pandemic is misleading. We are a majority and getting older every day, with that comes the pain/suffering and medications that alleviate it.

      This is my life, every day, every minute, it is what I imagine hell to be like and that’s with narcotic pain medications. Come walk in my shoes, I think you will find them uncomfortable.

      I have been diagnosed with Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Degenerative disk disease, Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Joint Disease, Severe scoliosis, Kyphosis. All my lumbar vertebra are herniated, all the vertebra have compression fractures, several nerves are crushed. Multiple hip replacements, due to a former pain management doctor who thought injections were better than pain medications and gave me MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and the injections didn’t work, they never have in 22 years.

      I am no longer a candidate for spinal injections or surgeries and have been on narcotic pain medications for 18 years which work just fine for me. You seem to feel that it’s alright if I am denied pain medications or if I am stigmatized by emergency room doctors, pharmacists or the clerk who works at the pharmacy. Chronic pain patients are tired of being treated like “drug-seekers” and “junkies”.

      Go to any auto-immune disease website and look at the forums, look at the hundreds of patients, read their stories, read how we are treated by doctors, pharmacists, emergency rooms and other medical professionals. You will be appalled at the way we have to live because auto-immune diseases are “invisible” for the most part, it’s not like a broken leg so others cannot see how broken we are and how much pain we all live with daily, there is no cure and they can only treat the symptoms.

      My pain management doctor sees me every month, he always has. He has extremely strict rules that must be adhered to and he had these rules in place before the DEA decided to take an interest in this. He is very educated and keeps up with new technology involving patients with spine issues. Who are you to generalize and label all pain management doctors as “uneducated”?

      By the way, none of my medications, either for pain or the myriad of diseases I suffer from is manufactured by Purdue Pharma, but it seems you have a problem with them, why not take this problem you perceive directly to them instead of verbally attacking advocates that are working to better the lives of chronic pain patients? It is also apparent that you’ve perhaps had a bad experience with a pain management doctor at some point since you seem to think they are all uneducated. Just a thought before I continue.

      This label of “opioid epidemic” is what is misleading. It is because of this label that chronic pain patients are being penalized and stigmatized. Yes, there are people who will sell their pills on the street and yes, there are people who will buy them, that is a fact and on some level it will always happen as long as there are humans on this planet. It is nearly impossible now, in most states, to get a prescription for more than a 3 day supply of a narcotic pain reliever from ANY doctor unless a patient is with pain management or has received a 3 day prescription from an ER doctor. Doctors and pharmacies have access to state databases and are vigilant about checking to make sure a patient doesn’t have other narcotic medications from other doctors, in short, no more doctor, emergency room or drug store shopping to get multiple prescriptions. Oxycontin was a large part of the problem for many years but very few doctors prescribe it anymore because very few patients can afford it, either from a drugstore or on the street.

      Yes, there are people out there who legitimately get a prescription from their doctor for pain and yes, they will sell those pills on the street…who knows why, perhaps to pay a bill, maybe feed a child, who can say, but those people are rare right now. The consequences of failing a random drug test, which doctors are required to do, or not having their medication if the doctor’s office calls for a “pill count” are severe. Not only will they be barred from the doctor’s practice but they risk being “blacklisted” by any pain management doctor, clinic or hospital across the country. This will always be a problem since it cannot be completely stopped but the days of thousands or millions of pills hitting the streets are over.

      The DEA needs to move on to the more serious, and deadly, opioid problem.

      You say “1 life every 19 minutes”, how many of those deaths so far, this year, were caused by or related to illegally or legally obtained prescription pills? Let us exempt those who purposely died by their own hand, that is not related to this country’s current issues. I think you will find that most of these deaths have been caused by HEROIN and the mixture of HEROIN and FENTYNAL, also known as “China White”.

      The opioid epidemic is not about prescription medications anymore. As I said above, it has been an issue in the past but current laws and regulations are quickly making that a non-issue. The issue, the true “opioid epidemic” problem, is “China White” and that needs to be dealt with immediately before the DEA or CDC comes up with more rules to make chronic pain patients even more miserable. They are focusing on prescriptions and doctors because they can write the laws here and get them passed without regard to chronic pain patients. They just don’t seem willing to fight the international fight.

      They are focusing on prescriptions because stopping China from importing Fentynal and stopping the import of heroin from South America, Mexico and Afghanistan is just TOO hard. Stopping internet sales of Fentynal directly from China, where they will deliver it right to your American home is nearly impossible…but I’d really like to see a news story that says they are, at least, trying to stop it. It cost money and takes manpower and time to fund and run international investigations and actually make an effort to keep it out. It makes one wonder if it’s just because they don’t want to anger another country that we may import other, useful products from by cutting off a huge source of revenue. Many countries biggest exports are illegal drugs into THIS country. Just once I want to see a story about the DEA that doesn’t have the word “prescription” and does have the words “China White Epidemic”, then they’ll be fighting the right fight and actually helping Americans instead of hindering their ability to receive proper medications for their diagnoses.

    • David on August 13, 2017 at 6:25 pm

      Maureen,
      Have you had a stoke or do you have arthritis so bad that you cannot even open a DAM can of corn our close your fist or grasp anything?

      If you cannot sleep because the pain is so bad? You have NO idea of what the hell we go through if you haven’t you and your cronies that judge us have no right to do so..

      Without the pain management help or lives just don’t mean anything when you cannot get yourself out of bed because your hurting so much then you can criticize those of us that are on pain management..

      We have tried so many different types of nerve mediation to no avail but believe me every dam side affect that came with them.

      But when we tried opiod pain therapy that seemed to be the best chance for us to live a half way descent life to be able to function without the pain for awhile at least.

      But when some dumb as goes out there and bus illegal herion or fentenal (and that is why they are dying) not from pain management your media and your fellow cronies blow this pain management out of
      proportion..

      So why don’t you and your cronies tell the world the TRUTH it’s not the hydrocodone that is killing these people it’s the people that are seeking the dam illegal drugs that is killing them..

      And when is the last time you all have cut out or reduced a blood pressue medicne or other prescription drug that is taken and killed someone these things don’t meet the media’s criteria.

      So PLEASE GET THE REAL TRUTH OUT THERE…!

      And Stop lying to the people If you are doing what your are supposed to be doing and not abusing your pain management prescriptions why them do we have to all suffer for the dumbassry of 2% of the 98% of people that do this right

    • steve on August 13, 2017 at 6:33 pm

      You Sir are a total dumb m.f you have no idea how it feels to not be able to get out of bed in
      morning go to work and get a check. I am sorry for all the deaths but if it was not a pill they would die on some other drug. and you and the gov. have no business in my affair So stick that where the sun don’t shine M.F

      And have very nice day M.F

      Steve spelham1@hotmail.com

    • Pastor Lisa Gandy on August 16, 2017 at 6:31 pm

      The DEA needs to understand diagnosis and quality of life..im a diabetic of 35 yrs..nerve damage..3 different types of degenerat bone disease..brain and spine injuries.. My medication if i dont have it..i cant walk..have any quality of life to be with my family.. Crying in pain all night..ms.. I have to have it or i cant even walk..what about the legitamate cases like myself…do they care if im in my last years and cant even get out of bed..i know that some ppl fake it..to get it..but what do i tell my grandbaby..sorry grandmas to sick to even pick u up.. It is unfair..unjust..what about these ppl using illicit drugs that are killing others.. Do they want old ppl like me in the street looking..an honest god fearing woman who needs her meds..DEA..i ask..what if it were u.and u couldnt play with your children..grocery shop..do laundry.cook.take care of myself instead of putting me in a nursing home bed at 52..to cry and scream all night in chronic pain.. Mr.DEA..u must help the ones that have real pain issues and do something about these other street drugs that are killing our teens up to older ppl..do u want us in the street bc we cant stand up to work..or even sit to answer a phone BC your crying in pain. PLEASE re evaluate your decisions AND help the sick. Drug addicts.put them in rehab ..but dont deny the sick..its ungodly to make us suffer for the bad apples that abuse.. It is unfair to be treated like an addict when your so sick u cant walk.. Put my shoes on is all we ask..and try to live a quality of life. This is ridiculous..I think all of us that are chronic patients should not be treated this way..not to mention ..die from withdrawal..re evaluate PLEASE..or maybe the sick should get in our wheelchairs and go to the capital so they can see ..maybe one day they will have our health issues and cant have their meds..then they will know our pain.. Something will have to give..we all need to input our feelings maybe God will hear our prayers

      • Brenda on September 9, 2017 at 1:34 am

        Very well said n I completely agree! Bt dea apparently are immune to the crus of the Hurting

    • B. Davis on August 16, 2017 at 9:19 pm

      The only misleading thing is you obviously don’t live in pain or live with someone in chronic pain everyday because if you did Maureen,than your response would be completely different and I’ll pray every day you or others don’t!! The people who are in constant pain shouldn’t have to suffer for the ones who misuse medication because those people are going to just find something else to make them high and the ones who actually NEED them will just suffer!

    • Kat valentine on August 23, 2017 at 4:16 pm

      Go straight to hell! Why wasn’t I included in any study? I live every single day hour week waking hour in pain! I used to be a vivacious energetic fun person. Now I wake up and struggle to make it thru every day. My opioids help me be able to STAND and walk around my house. Do not judge what you have not experienced. Shame on you! Studies showed when my children were born that my children be placed on their stomachs… NOW studies show this can cause sids. Studies do not include every demographic, every person. Shut up and pray that an accident does not take away your ability to have a life with out pain!

    • Steve on August 28, 2017 at 11:36 am

      Your comments and the lack of supporting statistics tell me your position on this subject is derived from the information being currently disseminated by our esteemed public media outlets.

      An easily decerned fact is that the “opioid” crisis and the primary victims are using illegal narcotics commonly available on the streets of this country. At one time a minority number of victims were using improperly acquired pharmaceutical grade pain medication but that number has decreased significantly for the simple reason that primary access is controlled by medical professionals.

      Who have been threatened, bullied and intimidated by our sadly misguided government. If you would care to do some basic research start with the VA’s and the staggering number of veterans who are now being denied previously available pain control medications.

      These vets are now struggling to find how to continue to live a life that is racked by crippling pain. Here’s a good comparison, the suicide rate of vets is now disproportionately higher than overdose deaths against the control group numbers.

      The simple fact is at this point it is far easier for our government to go after the easiest target, our established medical and pharmaceutical industries. The true danger and real threat to our youth and those who no longer can obtain proper pain managed care is the illicit distribution of narcotics.

      The misguided and ingnorant approach currently being taken by our government is a classic example of a knee jerk reaction that ultimately will backfire with catastrophic results.

      Leave the medical industry, specifically the doctors in control of their own moral responsibilities and insist that our government use our vast assets for the right reasons.

      If history hasn’t taught us anything it’s that our government rarely gets it right the first time and that ignorence is the norm when you allow the bureaucrats to steer the boat.

    • Bonny Sullivan on August 28, 2017 at 7:48 pm

      Actually my doctor won’t prescribe ANY opioid pain medication even for acute pain, ever. So the DEA has made it near impossible for people in pain, whether it’s acute or chronic, to receive adequate pain control. Sure some lives may be spared to all of these new restrictions on opioid prescriptions but what we’ll see is just as many people committing suicide to escape a life of constant physical pain. Prohibition never worked & neither will this!

      • Brenda on September 9, 2017 at 1:30 am

        Totally agree!!

    • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 5:19 am

      Maureen_ First of all, you need to spellcheck then grammar check your writing. It might make yor ignorant statements more tolerable.
      Secondly, “hydrocodone” is NOT percocet. it is probably this very ignorance of medicines that got you or your loved one/friend/neighbor in whatever trouble you are obviously not over. Had you done ANY research before writing such a blatantly ignorant comment, you would know (that Percocet is Oxycodone and tylenol) how very little you understand about this problem, which president started this “war” and how not to piss of thousand people who will read your (illiterate, nonsensical) writings. You have indeed immortalized yourself and your loved ones as being uneducated, coldhearted imbeciles. IF you voted for Trump, it is people like yourself that are giving ALL his supporters the bad name they have, known as ‘rednecks’ and uneducated hicks. I will pray for you!!

      • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 5:21 am

        PS- Can you see that the word “ignorant” was blazing through my brain?

      • Brenda on September 9, 2017 at 1:38 am

        You are one ignorant person I can tell you are a demo as you think your smarter better an your just really dumber one day u will need something to kill pain n I hope you do not get it
        You are a pathetic little person for sure

      • Jim on January 15, 2018 at 11:41 am

        When I first began reading these comments I thought, by the way they were written, the authors must be just plain stupid. There were so many misspellings and other grammatical errors that the people who were submitting them came off as totally illiterate. As I continued reading I noticed that just about every entry was equally riddled with errors as to make one surmise that all people who suffer from chronic pain are low class scum who are unable to put two words together to make an intelligent thought. I now have come to the conclusion that whoever is sponsoring this forum is purposely editing the comments to make it seem as though this is the case. I can’t wait to read my own comments to see if I am on to something here. Let’s see how badly you can edit my comments to make me sound like an idiot as well!

    • Wanita on September 1, 2017 at 5:56 am

      Maureen Kielian- The World Health Organization, The United Nations and The International Narcotic Control Board has over 50 YEARS of EVIDENCE that opiates are a safe and effective medication for treating Chronic Pain. If you would like a copy of WHO information I would be happy to email it to you.

      At least 10% of the population suffers from Chronic Pain. When one is in pain, that burden gets continuously heavier as each day passes. The body is in a constant state of fight of flight response https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/cortisol-screening-chronic-pain-patients.

      Inadequately relieved Chronic Pain takes 10 years off of the average life. One suffers physically, mentally emotionally, financially and socially. Their life crumbles and the life of their family deteriorates. Many long for death.

      Dependence and tolerance should never be confused with addiction.People who legitimately use opiates to treat pain have less than a 1% chance of addiction. Medications such as NSAIDS and acetaminophen should only be used for short duration but opiates are safe over long term.Last year in the USA 15000 people died from using just Ibuprofen trying to treat pain. We don’t know how many people died from using steroids or Biological altering meds, Tylenol toxicity, etc but we do know people died.

      When a patient is in pain they get mixed up in a pain-depression-anxiety circle. If they commit suicide their death is usually chalked up to depression when instead, the real culprit was Chronic Pain.

      Research has determined that people who use a prescription and become addicted have abused narcotics in the past.

      We do not need these overzealous limits on medication. Instead we need better medical care. 1- when it is determined that a pt needs opiates for chronic pain then it should be treated seriously. A family meeting should be called (w/consent).
      2- the bio-chemical process of addiction should be taught
      3- ensuring other measures to combat pain are used -etc, ice, heat, exercise, diet, rest. etc
      4- the benefits and risks should be thoroughly explained.

      These measures will help a patient own their decision. Because of the knowledge and support provided, patients will take the treatment more seriously.

      I will include a link that teaches a bit about the bio-chemical process of addiction.

      http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article145348794.html

      Please research- someone you know may have terrible pain and need your support.

      • Rachelle on November 3, 2017 at 10:45 am

        Thank you for that website information Wanita. I have posted on here and I guess I’m awaiting approval of my comment. It sounds like you have definitely educated yourself on pain management, rules, options, etc., Just as I have. If my comment ever gets approved, you’ll be able to see it.
        I personally have been through 47 surgeries since 2000. I’m 44, I have kids and grandkids and all I want to do is live! I have followed every rule, every suggestion that my pain management team and mental health team have presented to me. I’m going to keep fighting the good fight, as we all should. My anger and helpless feelings have turned into a fight strictly about the principle of the matter! I’m not going to give up, or in. I’m going to stand up for my right to live my life. It’s very sad to hear people on here who are ready to bite the bullet. I have been there! I’m suggesting that NONE OF US GIVE UP OR GIVE IN! PLEASE EVERYONE OF YOU, ME, AND THE NEXT GUY/GAL… Don’t give in. Keep speaking out, stir the pot, ruffle some feathers! I’m not keeping quiet. Thank you all so much because human life MATTERS and I care about each and every one of you on this forum!!!

    • Betty on September 1, 2017 at 11:34 am

      That would be a good point–that doctors will be more engaged with their patients, but unfortunately, the cold, hard truth is that many pain medicine doctors are abrasive, accusatory, and do not listen to patient complaints. A lot will often shut down after they find out they cannot inject you with meds (because of previous poor results or adverse effects). Its ironic since many of these same doctors were the ones who RX mega doses of opioids to “manage” pain to start genuinely suffering patients down this path, which they now find ends with no supports and minimal treatment.

    • Wanita on September 2, 2017 at 12:24 am

      Opiates not effective in treating Chronic Pain? site your sources please.

      The World Health Organization, United Nations and International Narcotic Control Board has over 50 years of data that supports that opiates are a safe and effective method of combating Chronic Pain. The CDC in the US and The National Pain Center here in Canada DID NOT consult The WHO Guidelines. The WHO has determined that the average dose needed to combat Chronic Pain is about 87 mg MED and that failure of an opiate to treat pain is usually due to the dose being too low.

      CDC and NPC has chosen 90mg as the “watchful dose” when in fact it is the average dose currently needed to be effective. The studies used to develop these faulty Guidelines were of short duration and the dose used too low as stated above.

      What is more, is that a special representative to the UN, when asked about treatment of Chronic Pain, replied that to leave one in pain when there is the means to relieve it is to leave them to suffer inhuman and degrading treatment.

      The data that has been collected by respectable organizations supports that people who suffer from chronic pain and use a narcotic for relief have less than a 1% chance of addiction.

      USA , Canada and many other countries signed a United Nations Treaty committing to the use of narcotics and psychotropic drugs for the use of pain and for scientific purposes and that to unreasonably restrict access to this necessary medication may be a violation of Human Rights.

      More than 15000 people in the USA died last year from Ibuprofen use alone. More deaths occurred due to suicide, biological altering meds, steroids and acetaminophen but I cannot find info on how many deaths.

      Chronic Pain takes 10 years off the life of a patient. They lose everything. They usually lose their job first then their social and family life deteriorates and many marriages crumble. Finances decrease while expenses increase. They get into a cycle of pain depression and anxiety. They lose quality of life and more than 50% seriously fantasize or contemplate suicide to relieve their suffering.

      Please inform and research.

    • Brenda on September 9, 2017 at 1:25 am

      You are a very I’m compassionate an want to cause confusion an obvious You never been in chronic pain.

    • Mark on September 10, 2017 at 10:10 pm

      What the hell are these doctors doing to us.Just three months ago my doctor wanted me to start taking 30 mg of oxycodone 4 times a day with my 30 mg ms contin.I told him no keep me on the 15 mg 6 times a day.I have been seeing the same doctor for 10 years now from two failed lower back surgerys L4 / L5.This month I was told I could not take more than 100 mg a day total.I just looked at him like what the hell so I left his office with a 25 mg patch of fentanyl and 2 15 mg of oxycodone a day.It’s been a week now and i’m sick of life.The D.E.A sucks I hope all of you are in severe pain one day.Thank you for F_ cking up my crappy life I have

    • Barbara Maranto on September 12, 2017 at 8:30 am

      Obviously you’ve never had a issue with pain. However, in an attempt to comply, I took myself off hrydro and zohydro with little discomfort from the process. I went out to my garage to do some simple cleaning, with very little bending. I worked for about an hour. I finally had to stop because was creeping up on me. I went in, put ice on my back and took a Tylenol. Within 15-20 minutes the pain was so bad that I was crying. Not sniffling but hard crying. I couldn’t find any position to help. I paced, stretched, took a bath. Nothing worked. I finally had a glass of wine, which I must be allergic to because I ended up with hives. The wine helped a bit. I wanted so badly to take an ibuprofen or two but because of stomach issues and a blood thinner, that’s not an option. Do I take up drinking or do you have another idea? Street drugs perhaps? Suicide? This really pisses me off. I’ve always been responsible with my pain pills, taking them only when I absolutely need them. I suspect those who die from these drugs may be doing it intentionally or take them irresponsibly. That leaves the rest of us in excruciating pain. I can only hope that one of the people who put this into effect are in need of these drugs. I find it hard to believe that they would let their mother sit in tears on an hourly basis. But then again I’ve met some pretty hard hearted, puffed up, self serving people in my life. Only a few mins you, but I’m thinking they are all together trying to solve a problem at the expense of many of us. I have an idea. Make them tend to a few of us in our daily lives. Or make them go to the funerals of the many people who will kill themselves for relief from their pain.

    • Lori Crum on September 12, 2017 at 10:03 pm

      You must not have ever dealt with the AGONY of TRUE & SEVERE PAIN yourself. If you had, I can confidently say, you’d have a much different feeling & opinion on the matter

    • Pete Well on September 13, 2017 at 7:46 pm

      Starting to really get pissed with my doctor. Never failed a drug test, always show up and request refill in person, and signed that b.s. drug contract. But I’m to blame when I come.out of surgery and the surgeon has sent my wife to the pharmacy for additional weak pain meds. He looks at that as a violation even after the surgery team tells him they knew about my drug contract and decided I should include the weak tramadol to the rest of the pain meds. These doctors really aren’t going by the CDC guidelines. I read when a doctor decides to taper off a patient if should be in agreement with the patient. If I’m wrong so be it but if I’m right who do I report tjis to??

    • Nancy Wilson on September 13, 2017 at 11:40 pm

      Maureen, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! You have no clue what it is like to have your body screaming in excruciating pain from head to toe 24/7, I am not able to eat, sleep, or think. We are not addicted, we are dependant on our medication to have some type of quality of life. When a person is in this type of pain continually, it effects our mind, we will do anything to make the pain stop! Even suicide! I am a Christian, and I am against committing suicide, but I feel like people like you are forcing me to commit suicide! So there will still be loss of life! Unfortunately, it will be innocent people like me who had a prescription and followed the law, who will begin to commit suicide! Then what will you say?

    • Alan on September 15, 2017 at 4:32 pm

      All CPP are presently or will eventually get caught up in the DEA regulating by fear how Pain Management Dr’s treat our pain or should I say don’t treat our pain properly by reducing or entirely eliminating the opiates wich in many cases is the only effective means of treating Chronic Iretractable Pain causing all CPP who have become victims of the DEA’s war on opiates and our Dr’s not caring enough to stick together and push back to suffer needlessly while our quality of life becomes worthless and hopeless. Certainly our health insurance companies are greatly involved in this conspiracy due to the fact that many of the newest synthetic pain medicine’s are extremely expensive and they just see dollars at the end of the day. As a side note: in my case they just didn’t work at all, not only did they not work and I tried 2, my insurance didn’t cover much of the cost. Now as with many of my fellow CPP brethren my quality of life is going down the drain and it seems hopeless and the really crappy thing is that there is something available to help most if not all of us that is being witheld by our physicians because of our own governments war on opiates which in the long run they will never win, we have all seen how inept they have, are and will always be in that area. Our prisons are full of people that have commited a crime involving marijuana and now PM Dr’s are pushing medical marijuana as a way to cut down on opiate use for pain control where it is legal. My Dr. prescribed it to me and after spending a considerable amount of money $400 to see the Dr. in their practice who is licensed to prescribe it and $100 to the State of New Jersey for a license to buy it and then spending even more money to purchase it, none of which is covered by insurance, for the hope of controlling my pain in an alternative manor I found out it didn’t help, im not saying it wont help other pain patients it just didn’t help me. It pains me to write this but this new ramped up war on opiates will cause an increase in suicide by people who’s right to live as normal and functional as possible by using opiates to help control their pain are being trampled on as CPP are considered less than human Dr. created drug addicts who are nothing more than collateral damage in the war on opiates. Some of us will suffer quitely enduring endless and maddeningly knawling ever present pain by being good little soldiers, some will choose to spend insane amounts of money and in many cases risking their freedom and or safety purchasing pain killers on the fringes of society possibly even turning to heroin to get relief and regain some sanity even though most people would consider that act totally insane and some will make the ultimate sacrafice by committing suicide because the thought of enduring even 1 more second of pain is no longer a viable option. Im not talking about useless, crazy, unloved and unwanted people and even if any of us did belong to any or all of those categories it doesn’t mean that our God doesn’t love them or make their life less valuable. I myself had a Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted in a last chance attempt to help to control my pain, it was a very expensive and very painfull ordeal that I was more than willing to try with the hope that I would get relief and possibly be able to cut back on opiates or totally stop taking them all together and it did help but not nearly enough to make that radical step even close to being worth it although for some people it will help considerably or at least thats what they say. I was really desperate and willing to try anything to stop the pain and there are no alternatives left except opiates at least for now, I was on an appropriate level of meds to make life bearable until I recently had my meds reduced because the group of PM Dr’s I see decided my well being wasn’t worth anything to them. They basically lied about the decision but its not why I am commenting and it’s not helpful to anyone to get into it. I was really hoping that if we all stuck together that somehow, someway that we could all start a class action lawsuit and hold our Dr’s responsible for the pain and mental suffering most of us are experiencing because they have bowed down to unethical and medically unreasonable non scientific demands of the DEA under pressure from politician’s and probably related in some manner to lobbyists from medical insurance companies. We need to stick together and hopefully find a smart lawyer or law firm who can tie all of the loose ends together and have enough compassion for the human condition that brings us together, unrelenting, unimaginable suffering from pain that is being caused because of a group of clueless bureaucrats and spineless Dr’s.

    • Joy on September 15, 2017 at 5:08 pm

      What are your credentials? Seriously how much pain are you living in day after day after Day? The kind of pain that doesn’t just ease off in time. The kind of pain that without a doctor and the pain medication, you can get to the point where the only way you think you can get the pain to stop is to end your life. No one should tell a Dr. Who seems to truly care about what’s going on that she’should misleading anyone! She’s right!!!!!!

    • Alan on September 15, 2017 at 5:14 pm

      Maureen, you obviously have never suffered from chronic iretractable pain and are just spewing out something you read and then decided to insert your uneducated 2 cents into a real crisis situation for CPP. Nobody wants to hear your slant on something you know nothing about. The only thing that can change your mind is a good dose of something most everyone here suffers from every second of every waking moment everyday and probably in most cases for the rest of our lives. So find something you know about and stick to that but with your kind I doubt you have any real valuable insight into anything worthwile except a know it all blog and they dont want to hear from you either because like you they already have their mindless minds made up!

    • Ken Mason on September 16, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Another problem that may have spurred the DEA’s action against us are do-good-er hypocrites like my daughter in-law who made countless calls to various people and agencies to ban Oxycodone that her mother (and I) have depended on for 10 years including spending $15000 of our own money (no insurance) to attend a 3 month ‘Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic”. Now we’re jumping thru hoops to obtain our pain relief meds and getting worse including increasing costs.
      We get only $1500/month from SSI. These people are a ‘pain’.

    • John on September 17, 2017 at 2:12 pm

      Does anyone know how McCain and Scalise are being treated? Do they sit in a tiny drug mill office for 1-2 hours in the hopes of being properly treated? Do they pay a percentage of their salary every month and pee in a cup as if they were entering prison? Do they have a comparable high deductible that is only an unreachable number (show us your medical bills)? These are 2 of our lawmakers that by no stretch of the imagination have to live by the laws they make. Unless and until we all fight back it will continue to go downhill. This is possibly the worst form of discrimination because it’s inescapable.

    • Joy on September 18, 2017 at 7:56 am

      Are you on chronic pain?

    • Mike4756 on September 19, 2017 at 1:21 pm

      I use OxyContin 60mg 3 x daily and it has given my life back after several injuries while in military – yes I fully understand the downside but the alternative is not viable and yes I have done all the pt etc – I have been on same dose for 3 years and worry my meds are going to go away and yes I could detox but how is the pain controlled?

    • Luke Schiro 630-258-0455 on September 22, 2017 at 10:23 am

      What about cigarettes they have warnings on box saying they will kill you but they can be bought everywhere. Alcohol the same. How many deaths do these cause.i guess all that tax money the government makes on booze and smokes that kill doesn’t matter. Of the 3 only opiodes serve a purpose.they help people like me on disability dealing with chronic pain from spine injury.This is a pathetic joke .Booze a.nd smokes are fine but pain meds are a no no. Bullshit.It makes no sense. Heroine use will go up,that’s all.this country is so sad

    • Alysia Hensley on September 22, 2017 at 3:07 pm

      Walk in my shoes once .my quality of life has been completely
      Changed by oxycodone
      My pain Dr is the best we do many other procedures as well
      And because of my meds I was able to start physical therapy
      And I’m so excited a few years ago it was bed all day long!

    • t a r on September 22, 2017 at 3:53 pm

      YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT…..LEAVE THE DOCTORING TO DOCTORS, not THE GOVERNMENT!!

    • Marilee on September 23, 2017 at 7:48 am

      There’s an old saying from a song … Before you criticize & accuse, walk a mile in my shoes …

    • CA Pain Patient on September 26, 2017 at 10:27 am

      I am OUTRAGED at your response- you are not only wrong you have no idea what you’re talking about. As a victim of failed Charite Artificial Discs, Adhesive Arachnoiditis, DDD and obliterated facet joints, I require very strong dosages of Fentanyl and Oxycodone, in high numbers.
      They have given me my quality of life back and I will end my life if forced to suffer the pain without them.
      I belong to many groups online and there are millions with similar pain who rely on them to function normally.
      Nearly 90%+ of abusers and those who OD do NOT have verifiable conditions nor legitimate Rx’s, and most obtain the medications illegally, then use them in an abusive manner.
      The issue isn’t the drugs- it’s the poor choices made by PEOPLE. Statistics show those with intractable pain rarely abuse their medications- yet treated horribly just because they take them- and God forbid they have flare ups and require more, the immediate assumption is drug seeking- abuse. The media portrayal demonizes the drug and pain patient – rather than EVER placing responsibility or accountability inn the ABUSER.
      It’s so INSANE and frustrating- fighting for the right to be pain free and treated with respect- reading comments like yours makes my blood boil.

    • Scott michaels on September 26, 2017 at 8:03 pm

      what a huge outright LIE. I’ve seen the paperwork and the threats the dea impose on good doctors. My pain pain specialist that actually took the time to to get me on the proper doses that finally enabled my to go back to work, has been forced to change his practice. He only saw 5/10 patients a day. Far from any pill mill. Because I was high dose due to metabolism he was told I must be selling
      G them or abusing them. I passed every test and pill count. They did not care. They said if he continues to prescribe high dosages to me ha can find a new career. My kaiser pop was told by her surperiors the same thing. Although it was medically necessary she was r
      Told to tell me I will die and she will go to jail. Lieslieslies

    • Dale Messenger on September 28, 2017 at 10:33 am

      I am one who cannot take Hydrocodone nor morphine due to headaches it gives me which are intollerable. Dilauded makes me very angry. Femerol works well for me but puts me to sleep. Oxy is something I would never even try do to seeing it ruin so many relationships and families. Even with short term usage.
      I have tried about everything else available to keep my severe pain at bay. I found that just plain Codiene Sulphate works best for me. I have early stages of Fatty Liver Disease so anything with Tylenol in it is sincerely taboo. I am sincerely careful with my medication as I am a type A personality and a recovering alcoholic of 15 years now. I have been taking this medication now for 20 years. Never have I taken any more than what is needed to keep the edge off of my pain. I am allowed 4 60mg pills a day and have never taken once more than 2 in a 24 hour period.
      The govt needs to understand that there are those of us who are truly in serious pain and would not Abuse or try to loose out pain medication at all. We need it and it is the only relief we get to carry on some kind of normalcy in our days. Please give it back as it is tearing my life apart to live like this. Thank You.

    • Jana Jenkins on September 29, 2017 at 12:32 am

      You are fortunate you don’t live every hour of the day and night in pain. Thanks for knowing what’s best for me than my doctor. I hope you have a long painfree judgmental life.

    • Mieka Resak on September 30, 2017 at 1:35 pm

      Obviously, you are NOT a chronic pan sufferer! I don’t know where the articles which read, “long term narcotics are not effective against chronic pain,” get their information. It wasn’t from legitimate chronic pain sufferers. Perhaps they scraped those poor people up off the streets of the big cities and asked, “are you addicted to narcotics and if so don’t you find it takes more of the drug to ‘help’ after several weeks at an effective dose?” I don’t see how these articles or the researchers talked to even one legitimate chronic pain sufferer who finally found a dose of whatever drug to make them productive again. I found an article from the national pharmacy association which represented 100,000 pharmacists. The article basically said, “don’t do this to people who suffer chronic pain,” and “the majority of prescriptions for chronic pain suffers are not abused.” Now what do we do? I KNOW the VA is offering Yoga and Tai Chi INSTEAD of narcotics. REALLY?? How are we supposed to do ANY exercise program without assistance for pain? As my VA doctor said, “I have a guy who has been on this drug for 10 years without a problem. Now I’m forced to take him off of it.” Another of her patients said in frustration, “Now you are going to have vets going after street heroin and drinking again!” to which she could only respond, “That’s not a good idea.” My VA doctor is frustrated as well. It isn’t her fault. The VA is also taking patients off of “narcotic-like substances” i.e. Tramadol or Ultram. According to my local VA, “Unless you are a cancer patient, you cannot get narcotics or narcotic-like substances for more than five days and then it will have to be for an acute injury.” Combat injuries? Suck it up butter-cup! Hit by an IED? Five days will have to do! Suffer from back pain for severe stenosis at multiple levels? Ibuprofen, arthritis meds and Tylenol oh and here is a prescription for 2 % Lidocaine topical jelly. The over the counter stuff is 4%! Sad the way the VA is treating the veterans. I know we are all doing a lot of complaining on here but have we all written to our governors or a US Congress-people? If not, get on keyboard and maybe “we the people” will get action!

    • AJ on October 1, 2017 at 10:44 pm

      Maureen, you are as ignorant as ignorant gets. My opioid therapy is in the end of its 10th year and its still working beautifully. Without my med, I would lose the will to live. I am not addicted, my pain has only worsened in alignment with my degenerating condition, I do not abuse or sell my meds and I’ve never Dr shopped. STOP YOUR OPIOPHOBIC PROPAGANDA. We need these drugs to have a life! And we will not be punished for the acts of illegitimate patients and criminals! We are growing and getting louder and we are coming for idiots like you who are spreading the lies about the efficacy and “danger” of opioid therapy, and the misinformation, and making us suffer as a result of the medical torture and medical terrorism being inflicted upon us. This is UNACCEPTABLE! Chronic pain sufferers are tired of the bullying and persecution and abuse and IGNORANCE of the govt about our conditions and our therapy.

    • Tired of Puritans minded the business of others on October 3, 2017 at 1:47 am

      People killing themselves when you take away pain meds is BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS. I hope there is a hell and you get to feel what we feel here on earth 1000 fold! You are certainly going, that’s right, I judge you, the universe will judge you. May you feel pain someday and need medication!

      YOU ARE A HEROIN DEALERS BEST FRIEND! Be proud of your little self

    • Brian Harris on October 4, 2017 at 8:20 am

      Dear Maureen Kielian,

      I must say I totally DISAGREE with your reply. It’s people like you who have made my life a living hell. Here is my story…

      My name is Brian Harris and I am a completely healthy person living in the state of Mississippi with undetectable HIV, but also live with chronic pain. I’ve also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and osteopoikilosis. What started out as tolerable pain developed into debilitating pain that has impacted every aspect of my life. From my mood, appetite, emotional stress, and my overall outlook on life. I’ve spent many nights with little-to-no sleep where the only thing I could focus on was how awful I felt.

      Pain is a subjective experience, but for me it can be described as severe, excruciating, and downright debilitating. Pain effects every aspect of my quality of life. It effects my ability to participate socially, to work, to do simple household chores, and even to care for my loved ones. My suffering not only effects myself, but those around me. For when I suffer distress, anxiety, and depression associated from being in pain, they to experience distresses. What is frustrating is that there is no standard metric developed to describe the pain burden for people with HIV associated pain and chronic pain. This may be do in large part because of the different stages of the disease and also the fact that people experience pain differently.

      For me my pain has no consistent pattern, however, it usually is more prevalent in my lower back, my neck, my limbs, joints and my muscles. I experience everything from sever stinging, burning, and tingling. At times it feels as though someone’s pricking me with several tiny needles in my hands and feet. I get a numbness/weakness in my muscles, which constantly seem to have spasms and fits of uncontrollable twitching. I get headaches that range from mild to severe. At times they may only feel like mild pressure/dull aching, but can develop into heavy throbbing. I also experience sever joint and bone pain. Most times I’m reluctant to express just how bad the pain is and how miserable I truly am feeling. This may be due in part by me not wanting to sound like a complainer, out of fear of not being believed by my doctor, or could possibly from my own fear of what just might exactly be causing some of my symptoms.

      The sources of my chronic pain have taken me many years to untangle, and even today can feel so overwhelming, complex, and even mysterious. My causes are not only from my HIV related illness and it’s stages alone, but from my other underlying health issues and even from my antiviral medications. Not only have I had to deal with the physical symptoms from my pain, I’ve had to deal with psychological effects as well.

      The goal of my pain control has never been to cure my chronic pain disease, but to manage it. Allowing me to function effectively as possible, minimize my pain, and improve my quality of life. Part of my pain management over the past 10 years has been the use of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory cream, amitriptyline, baclofen, hydrocodone(10/325), and a long acting morphine sulfate (100 mg ER). However, as a result of the “War on Opiods”, along with new guidelines and the current political assault on opioid prescribing, 4 years ago my doctor began reducing my hydrocodone. I went from 4 daily to now just 30 monthly (to use “only when needed”). On my last visit he cut my morphine from 100 mg to just 60 mg. He stated that due to resent changes in opioid prescribing laws here in MS, he could no longer prescribe pain medications unless I had cancer, or was an end of life patient. As if somehow my chronic pain is supposed to magically disappear.

      I have struggled with daily chronic pain for over a decade and have responsibly relied on pain medications as a means to help me manage my systems. I’ve never asked for an increase in my dosage, failed a urine test, or abused my medications. My pain levels never increased from my “long term opioids”, or caused me more harm. However, due to the current anti opioid prescribing limitations to curb opioid abuse, people like you, and my physician’s refusal to prescribe those medications, I have found myself in a position of being denied access to the very thing that can help relieve my suffering. These new prescribing “dosage” limitations are causing me harm and are interfering with my patient-provider relationship. There has to be a balance between both prescription drug abuse and the treatment of chronic pain, one that doesn’t only fixate on one problem at the expense of the other.

      My pain has since returned to a level that is truly unbearable. I’ve reached out to my ID physician, my psychiatrist, several organization, and even legislators with no eval. I can’t believe that I may be faced to just except this new reality. A reality that if current legislation and perceptions of treating people with a chronic pain do not change, I (along with many others) are being forced to suffer. We no longer know who or where to turn for help. So I don’t blame big pharma, or my pain management doctor, I blame people like you.

      Sincerely,

      Brian Harris

    • Dar on October 6, 2017 at 5:06 am

      Cannot hoard when docs refuse to prescribe, pharmacies refuse to fill and insurance companies refuse to cover life sustaining pain medications. Pain patients are ending their suffering yet lawmakers and the system continue to harm us

    • Jeani Sunday on October 6, 2017 at 1:55 pm

      I pray you never develop the type of disease I did at age 58. I have intractable pain..without pain relief my blood pressure skyrockets ..We need help for illegal users on the street and quit clumping in chronic and terminallt ill ppl..who need humane treatment.

    • Cathy T on October 6, 2017 at 8:57 pm

      Having moved from FL to TN, I have had great difficulty trying to obtain assistance in my new state. I am disabled with fibromyalgia, Degenerative disk disease, sciatica, arthritis, and a tear has been found in my lumbar region.
      Since moving, I have had NONE of my pain medications for two months! I DO NOT LOOK FOR NOR USE STREET DRUGS. I had no problem taking a UDA at my doctor’s office every three months. Keep all meds secured in a lockbox for which the key is around my neck 24/7. More issues affect my arms and legs.
      So I can’t run races or do jumping jacks; walking still requires MANY rest stops.
      But at least if I have MY MEDICATIONS, I CAN DO SOMETHING. OTHERWISE, I am homebound.

    • Kimberly Handley on October 8, 2017 at 8:03 am

      I TOTALLY AGREE with Joseph & the others below. Walk just 1 day in our shoes Maureen, let’s see how well you do. I sure didn’t plan on cervical spinal cord disease & entire spine so badly deteriorating & severe periphral neuropathy in my 40s. It is going to paralyse me from the neck down, just like Christpher Reeves, but slower & painfully instead of sudden. Drs cannot tell me how much time I have functionally, only that I will never get better only worse. I am only 47, I used to love to work & care for our farm animals, garden, cook & grill, avidly fish, hike & walk daily, WORK, but most of all play hard with my 5 yr old grandson. It is ppl like YOU MAUREEN that are robbing ppl like US, NON DRUG ABUSERS, of… LIFE!!
      And FYI Maureen, my dads best friend died last wk, it was a horrible death from complete kidney failure due to an ordinary non-scheduled drug he was put on :'(
      I also hope someday you know what it’s like.

    • Robert on October 8, 2017 at 4:52 pm

      Wow, your an idiot. Studies don’t show whats going on now. Good people who live day by day in pain, people who don’t abuse there medication are being cut off. They use there meds to get through the day. They have jobs, family’s. But, you have your studies. I was cut off. I lost my job because I couldn’t get out of bed. I called in three times because I couldn’t stand up straight. I have three herniated discs, Arthritis. But you have your studies. Did your studies tell you about whats gonna happen to all the people cut off from there meds. Some are gonna look to heroin, coke alcohol. There gonna lose there jobs family. Did your study tell you this. You have no clue. So stick to your studies. I have a brief study of you. Your an arrogant tag along. Study hard.

    • George on October 11, 2017 at 6:47 pm

      Maureen

      You are so uneducated in this issue your not worth debating. educate yourself and really yourself on the true static……before babbling nonsense here. first of all I will say ( If you were educated) you would know alcohol deaths severely outnumber what your reality thinks. so please do not mislead the public with babbling nonsense ! I can only imagine you end up in a severe trauma issue that leaves you into a future of chronic pain ! ( Although I feel it couldnt happen to a better person ) .

    • Jeff Blair on October 13, 2017 at 10:29 pm

      How dare you, Maureen, tell us works or doesn’t work to control our chronic pain. HOW DARE YOU!!!
      Like one reply said, you try living 1 day in our shoes. YOU DONT KNOW ANY OF US!
      It took nearly 16 years but I could finally breath, function, even drive across county – – twice, and never had one problem. Except for one. I WAS OUT OF PAIN. My average daily pain was 0-1. Now? 6-8. I was on 270 mg of Morphine SR P/day. Now I’m down to 30. And they tried taking that away last month, my BP rose to 223/117 for 5 days. What did the VA pain Dr. have To do — put me back on the 30 mg Morphine SR a day just to stabilize me. Then this month I reluctantly agreed to voodoo and hocus locus treatment and allowed her to do acupuncture on my ears in hopes it would completely alleviate my pain. It didn’t. But, within hours my BP was up again to 203/100. Quite an unintended effect, wouldn’t you say?
      Don’t talk about what is good for people unless you’ve that life. I too have contemplated suicide, and have tried 3 times. IT IS THE ONLY WAY OUT I CAN NOW FORESEE!! The VA isn’t going to change anything, but let those of us who have done everything we’re told to do, INCLUDING reduction in opiates, suffer greatly — what a price.

      • Rachelle on November 3, 2017 at 11:05 am

        Jeff, I’m a veteran as well and I wanted to know which state you are in? The VA in Birmingham Alabama is trying to do the same to me. Contact information mswil3@aol.com
        Thanks

    • Angryveteran on October 15, 2017 at 8:33 pm

      You are unbelievable doctor, you have absolutely no business practicing medicine. I have been corraled to pain management facilities for 9 years now, and suffering with widespread body pain for nearly 15 years, and I will never understand how people such as yourself feel you are helping the situation.

      At one time I was so put off of being treated like a criminal for my monthly medication management appointments, I tapered myself off and took NOTHING for 10 months. Within a month, I had to use a cane. Within two months I was no longer able to work and by the fourth month I was nearly bedridden. But I kept at it, taking no medication, believing that somehow the medication was part of the problem. My situation isn’t that unique, but we are all in the same boat now.

      I have done exercises daily, used epidural and trigger point injections, water and physical therapy, tens unit stimulators and even accupuncture. Barely 40 years old, I’ve never overweight and have always tried to eat healthy. I am a non-smoker, non-drinker and had only used marijuana once in my life in high school. My condition, you ask? The common diagnosis of fibromyalgia, simply beacuse they don’t what it really is. It seems to be related to my military service as 44 of the 58 soldiers in my unit have this exact set of symptoms. They call it myofascial pain syndrome, fibromyalgia or Gulf War Syndrome. But since I never deployed overseas, it is simply fibromyalgia. My pain never ceases. I can explain it best as feeling severly hung over all day, every day, with all of your muscles hurting non-stop. My trap muscles are in spasm 24/7. I take methadone because it is cheap, effective, and leaves me with my senses more than any other narcotic. I have taken EVERY other Rx treatment, including SSRI’s, muscle relaxers, nearly every opiate, vitamin D, behavioral therapy, and every old school treatment you could possible name. Methadone is the only thing that works well without causing euphoria or zombifying me.

      I believe you think you are trying to help. I am sure you feel you have good intentions. But you’re not helping and you ARE part of the problem. I don’t care what numbers you present as I can always show you numbers in favor of using opiods. Facts are made to fit the agenda and this is no different.

      I have children, a family, a job and am educated. But from your comments, your education is clearly a handicap. It only makes you feel you know all facets of the situation, that you are clearly more informed than the patients who suffer with these issues. You think you know more than I do about my problem and therefore you know what is best for me. You couldn’t be more wrong.

      There is a storm brewing, doctor, and you will be on the receiving end, I assure you. The options for people like me are fairly straightforward.
      #1-I turn to illicit drugs for pain relief #2-I stop the pain.

      What you need doctor, is perspective. With pain being subjective, you need to experience what I, like so many other people, do experience every minute of every day. How about some broken bones from a car accident? How about a bullet to the lower part of your spine, damaging your nervous system and leaving you partially paralysed? I think such things would quickly bring you up to speed.

      Am I pushing you out of your comfort zone yet? Are you nervous reading my comments? I hope you are doctor. At least these are just scary words, not threats, not reality. At least when you stop reaading this, you can resume your relatively pain free life where you can continue to post your worthless opinions on message boards like this. While people like me worry that our next appointment will bring us to an encounter of someone like you, misinformed, well educated, but full of opinions and skewered data.

      Enjoy your life doctor, I hope you have many, many pain free years. I wish this painful existence on no person, not even my enemies, not even you, doctor. But you and I both know, you will encounter someone like me soon enough. That person may not be in their right mind, that person may wish to inflict the same suffering on you that you are inflicting on them. They will be desperate, they will be unreasonable, they will be angry, and some of them will be spiteful and even vengeful.

      When pain rules your life and there is no more relief, all of us will be faced with some very difficult decisions. Many of us will not be able to use our better judgement, as it will have probably left us by them time you encounter us. Let’s hope your opinions and your slanted data will talk that desperate person out of doing whatever God forsaken ideas they have running through their heads.

      I wish you no harm doctor, no harm at all, but I needed to give you some perspective. I hope you rethink your position. I hope you research these things on your own, instead of regurgitating the crap that you have been.

      Doctors are just as complicit as big pharma in creating the problems you mention, you will be held responsible one way or another. Painting all of us with the same broad brush is not good medicine, and I know that you realize this. I wish to think that my family and my faith will get me through this, but as my pain has escalated regularly every few months, I recognize the dangers that lie ahead. No one can hold out forever. In fact, I have even considered starting smoking three packs a day. That way, when I get cancer, I will be ellible for pain management treatment again. Don’t tell me cancer is worse than what I experience every day, or that t is a stupid idea. You have no perception at all of what I, and so many other people live with every minute of the day.

    • John on October 16, 2017 at 5:00 am

      Obviously you haven’t done your resaerch very well nor do I believe you suffer from chronic pain or you would be singing a different tune! What’s not being said is of them 1 in 19every day die of overdose how many was ALCOHOL INVOLED HMMMMM? BET MIN. OVER 98%!AND UNDER, 40YRS OF AGE! But like most who are against it people like or elected officials they all go to much belt a few drinks to calm nerves and again when get home till tiered. We call them fictional alcoholic’s RIGHT? BUT THAT’S LEGAL SO ITS OK? But take a Valium instead for anxiety instead of booze than you are consider a drug abuser they are hiding behind the opiate war which is false they don’t say the truth that alcohol was most likely the trigger for the overdose not the perscibed pain medication alone or they be alive today most likes but the shot callers in charge don’t want that to be known because most all are fictional alcoholic’s and we all know what prohibition caused a lot got rich and the Moffia was greated but became a powerful force especially with the pollution’s in their pockets from bribes that worked out real well didn’t it! Well now you are creating a dangerous black market for heroin and other bad street drugs for people who need them for documented chronic pain contions & forcing them to for relief! Just rember what happened when Ronald Reagan made war on drugs created a bad street drug epidemic of nasty drug HENCE CRANK OR METHAPHETAMEAN CRACK COCAIN,PCP JUST TO NAME S FEW THAT THRIVED TO FILL THE NEED. there IS A BETTER ANSWER POST ALCOHOL STATS WITH the OPIATE ODS SHOW THE TRUE, #’S OF% THAT IT WAS COMBANATION OF BOTH BUT IT WAS THE ALCOHOL THAT TIPPED THE SCALES TO DEATH NOT THE OPIATE ALONE THOSE # WILL REVEALS LOOPSIDED VIEW OF THE REAL CAUSE OF THE OVERDOSE DEATH THE ADDING OF EXCESSS ALCOHOL!

    • shan on October 17, 2017 at 9:19 am

      Maureen Jillian you are a murder supporter, stupid ,evil, and inhumane.. Maby if you have pain or get old you will be made to suffer two fold. Maby you will need a broke bone put together with you just eating down some dirt for pain, or better yet you should be prescribed depression, or seizure medicine for the pain you may feel like the so many others you and doctors ,dea and government have forced on patients while they suffer so bad some have committed suicide… you are a inhumane, evil, evil, evil life distorting, torturing murder.

    • Lori Felling on October 21, 2017 at 6:24 pm

      DO YOU SUFFER FROM CHRONIC PAIN? You cannot know what its like unless you do. I believe you are totally wrong in your statement. Maybe you should look into how we chronic pain patients suffer. Without my meds I will be housebound and bed bound. You need to get all the facts before you speak.

    • Lori Felling on October 21, 2017 at 6:33 pm

      THIS IS DIRECTED TO MAUREEN KIELAN. DO YOU SUFFER FROM CHRONIC PAIN? I highly doubt it. You are so ignorant and misinformed that I would be embarressed to be you. Without my combination of pain meds I will be housebound and bed bound. They help me immensley. I have so many painful chronic illness’s. Over 37 years, it it wild. It can only bring depression and suicidal tendancies fir alot of hurting people. Stsy out of our buisness!!

    • Nancy Collentine on October 22, 2017 at 9:46 pm

      Again, our country swings 180 degrees in its decision making. Keeping medicine from those with chronic pain is cruel and unusual punishment. These people, most of whom have tried most everything to improve their pain, are paying the price for dealers, drug addicts, and the dopes who are making our laws. What happened to “First, due no harm.”

    • Bryan on October 24, 2017 at 8:43 pm

      Maureen, your ignorance on this situation shows what type of person you are. One day, mark my word, you will eat those words. I watched my dad have a lot of pain all his life then had cancer and the pain he had in his last days of his life was unbearable and hard to watch. Even with this much pain he was denied some of his pain meds which was basically torture. He was never a person to complain abt pain or take pain meds until the last couple years, so I knew he was in more pain than myself and definitely you could handle. People like yourself that sits around with nothing to do , probably no job, and wants to comment on something you have no clue how to handle or deal with. More than likely a liberal, haha. But either way, have a good life and do a little more homework before you share your pure ignorance.

    • laura raley on October 25, 2017 at 2:42 am

      uNTIL YOU LIVE IN MY BODY DO NOT JUDGE!! +
      THERE WILL BE MORE SUICIDES NOWFROM PEOPLE LIVING WITH PAIN.

      GET EDUCATED

      SPACEBAR STICKS

    • Renee on October 25, 2017 at 8:16 am

      I lost two Doctors, back to back one I have seen for 9 years, and one that retired because of the new laws 40 years ! I have been going to a place where they did not look at any of my files just hell bent on getting me off my meds. that I need to walk ,even lie down ! I have been in the pain 1994 till now! I have no life ! I’m at a lost and I think in the U.S this should not becareful who you vote for !! There had to be a better way 1

    • Stoy Hughes on October 25, 2017 at 10:22 am

      Dear Maureen. With respect to your thoughts and intelligence, I feel you are, fir some reasome, bias. I was a very hard wrking Master Mechanic for over 40 years. When I was crushed under a van from a car lift failure, I had to have multiple surgeries. After physical therapy, injections and pain beyond human tolerance, I was given hydrocodone. My surgeon said I would be on this and more for the rest of my life. I still went through all the lesser drugs with near heart failure from 2 years of using celebrex.I was happy to have a pain med that teally helped. Now 12 years later after being force to reduce my dose, I am back to suffering and unable to walk without extreme pain. Education is the key to the opiod problem, NOT restriction. God bless Doctors for giving me hydrocodone and curse the DEA for taking it away. God bess you for caring.

    • Helen Polacek on October 25, 2017 at 5:03 pm

      Who are you?????? Another paid off by the gov DESPERATE attempt to cut down on the population????
      Increase suicides by magnitudes.
      You have NO CLUE what kind of existence it is to exsist in a pain ridden “HELL”!!!! If you did you would not talk or write so dam foolishly. Shame on your pompous self righteous ass for talking about something that you obviously have no clue about “Here in the REAL world”!!!!! Another load of undocumented misinformation only to make pain patients lives worse(If that’s possible) then they already are.

    • Deborah Comeaux on October 26, 2017 at 11:51 am

      Preventing legitimate patients in need of pain relief will not prevent abuse or misuse. Criminals will always be criminals. It’s awful to be treated like a drug addict when what I really am is a chronic pain patient. To tell me that long-term opioids do not work is outrageous I have lived this for more than 10 years. The government needs to focus its attention on criminals not law-abiding citizens who happened to be patients in need of pain relief. My physician has tried other medications and they were ineffective and exorbitantly priced. I want the government out of my medical business.

    • David on October 26, 2017 at 2:48 pm

      I fell 30 feet. I have an insane amount of pain in my back, legs and hips.
      I go to a legitimate pain mgmt hospital. I had to sign a contract about how I use the medication and if I ran out before I was supposed to just once, that’s it I’m done and will never receive a prescription again. I have ruptured discs, herniated discs, scoliosis and stenosis of the spine. To add insult to these injuries osteoarthritis is eating away at the vertebrae the facet joints and my legs don’t always get a clear signal from my brain so I stumble and fall often.
      I have lowered the amount of medication 3x and can’t go lower or I’ll live in my bed from now on.
      That fall could have killed me and if they take away the meds I take now the pain will kill me.
      There is another thing. I don’t have side effects, the endorphin rush or high feelings I have never felt. That part I don’t get and my doctor stated to me that if you are high on your medication, it’s because it’s more than you need.
      I had a family member steal my medication and i suffered for a week before my doctor could by law give me another prescription.
      You don’t get a 90 day supply either. I have to see my doctor every month. I get epidural injections and take advantage of any program or excercise I can do.
      But my limitations are not to sit or stand for more than 10 minutes at a time! That’s impossible but is also my reality, but let’s get rid of pain medication.
      I’ve had my wisdom teeth pulled out, 2 right knee operations, kidney stones and my appendix burst. All of those procedures they give out pain medication for but just for a short time and that’s it. Don’t need them stop taking them. For my wisdom teeth I got a months worth of Vicodin . Used it 2 days then tossed it. So why give someone a months worth of opioids for a few days of pain. That is were the problem started. Flaws in the system. Over prescribed medication. Kick backs to doctors who prescribed medication to keep drug companies happy! That’s a fact by the way and the government knows this.

    • Carol on October 28, 2017 at 11:12 am

      my husband service in Parkinson’s disease his muscles hurts so bad he can barely move however he can’t get any oxycodone for his pain this is unbelievable I watch my husband deteriorate from the muscle pain and the pain is awful have you ever seen someone you love And so much pain and there’s nothing you can do about it.

    • Neo on October 29, 2017 at 9:22 pm

      You obviously have never been in chronic pain. I find it the height of stupidity that people who have never experienced what it is like to be in unending pain think they know or understand how to treat constant pain. I will tell you what; how about I put your nuts in a vise and tighten down on them until you are in constant pain with no relief; then talk to me how opioids are not an effective way to treat the pain. People who have never been in chronic pain should not be allowed to make decisions on treating chronic pain, because unless you have experienced what it is like to live with pain every day and night you don’t have a clue as to what you are talking about. I have been on opioids for many years and they have allowed me a quality of life that has allowed me to continue to work. I don’t get high on them, I don’t sell them, I simply use them to control the pain. Instead of a worthless study done by people who have a preconceived agenda for doing the study; take fifty people who are clearly in pain and have taken opioids for years, and then find out how effective those drugs have been in allowing them to live a life with minimal pain, instead of unending debilitating intense pain that makes them wish for death. Wake up!

      The real answer is to take the development of new pain medication out of the hands of Big Pharma. I am certain that there is a way to come up with a real pain killer without getting people high, so there is no way for people to even want to abuse them because they don’t get you high, and also put in the equation that it is not habit forming. The equation is to make a powerful pain killer that cannot get people high and is not habit forming. I know that may not be easy, but there are smart people with the ability to think outside the box. You may not need to hit the opiate receptors to create a strong pain reliever. There may be diagnostics tools that could be created to detect actual pain signals, as opposed to other nerve signals, and in that way the pain relief could be localized instead of treating the entire brain. The same could hold true for mapping the brain itself and how it deals with pain. Again that could lead to treating portions of the brain that are registering the pain instead of the entire brain or nerves system. These are just a few suggestions, there are thousands more that would lead to a pain killer that neither gets people high, nor is habit forming. We need smart people who are motivated enough to develop these tools and substances that can take care of the problem.

    • Martin on October 29, 2017 at 11:25 pm

      “… engaged in their patients ‘pain’ complaints …”

      The fact that you felt the need to put “pain” in quotation marks here speaks volumes: You’re doubting, as a blanket statement, any patient’s pain. Complete lack of compassion. None of us knows the plight of someone else. This should be a doctor-patient decision, nothing less.

    • David on November 1, 2017 at 10:22 am

      I’ll tell you a story Maureen. I’m 36. I’ve worked as a window cleaner since 19, climbing up and down ladders. Now I have an si joint that’s messed up. And I can’t find a doctor to give me any pain meds or even do an xray to see wats wrong. They just wanna say sciatica and give me stuff that doesn’t work. You why they do that. Because of the restrictions of the dea. Period. They’ve told me that. I’m not supposed to take any orc pain meds because of stomach surgery in 2013. So pain meds is all I can have. So now I’m sitting here taking 15-20 advil a day and my stomach is bleeding again. The Advil is burning a hole right threw it. But I’m a 36 year old male which makes me an automatic addict in a doctor’s eyes because of wat the dea has told them to look for. Thank you dea and Maureen for ruining my life. I hope that you have to endure wat I’m going through with no help. I’ll bet you’ll change your mind real fuking quick. Your part of the cause of my pain wen u make remarks like this. Are you proud of yourself yet???? You shud b ashamed of yourself everyday.

    • Jessica S. on November 5, 2017 at 8:29 pm

      With all due respect, he’s not misleading but you are I live with EDS. You will never know the pain every single second of the day. EDS has no cure. On top of that, I have so many other issues it even scares myself. Alternative therapies? I have done them all even on my own. There is nothing I have not tried. No one ever said that opiates are the cure. Opiates do help people like me. It’s the only way I can function. It does not make the pain worse but yes, it does mask pain which is exactly the point. The pain is debilitating. Quality of life is nonexistent, families are suffering and of course the economy suffers as well. I am going to go ahead and tell you that as someone who suffers from this, I didn’t want this for myself. I did not want this life. I have taken initiative to do extensive research into my own conditions, treat myself to avoid further harm. People yell NSAIDs. I agree they are needed especially with my condition, however I now suffer from G.I. bleed even on low-dose anti-inflammatories. Until you live with this you will never understand. Our families, ourselves most importantly, deserve relief and the chance to succeed.

      I respect your opinion but do not agree with that whatsoever. I would suggest doing your own research with legitimate chronic pain patients before you make another comment like this. Just food for thought. Doctors can be wrong. Final thought would be to let you know that my ortho told me my herniated disc could not possibly be causing her damage and I did not have it. Gabapentin was for old people, not people like me who are 37. Just went and had my test, I am slam full of neuropathy. I cannot wait to send that report to that ortho. Don’t believe everything you read and try to be open minded because it’s very clear that you are not.

      If I have typos I apologize it’s because I have to use voice dictation. Why? I can’t even type anymore. Take care of yourself.

    • LBR on November 6, 2017 at 8:52 am

      There are NO Long Term studies on opoids! What you have is a bunch of so-called Addiction Specialist trying to make money and lusting at the numbers of Chronic Pain Patients they can reel into their clinics. Those documents have been leaked and/or hacked. If the ACA dies and the $30,000 a year drug treatment requirement is history these Addiction Clinics will die off. Again it’s all about the MONEY! Next the Insurance Companies are being looked at. I’m guessing those leaks and/or hacks will open Pandora’s Box. The leaked stuff on urine drug tests just broke. Another scam…

    • M. Mullins on November 8, 2017 at 2:33 pm

      I have suffered with chronic pain for many years. I was verily able to do a few things at home, cook occasionally, and shower and dress myself daily while on my meds. In the last six months my meds have been reduced 3 times. I am currently taking one fourth the medications i was taking to tolerate my pain. Now i am unable to care for myself. I have no quality of life and feel like giving up. Sick people are being punished for what these drug addicts are doing. We have no rights! Something has to be done. Please write and contact your representatives for your state and demand them to do something about American citizens being denied necessary medications!!!!

    • Peggy on November 8, 2017 at 7:54 pm

      It is not misleading. it’s dead on. I had an appt today with my pain clinic I had been going to but is now ran by all new nurses – with your view and I had the worst appointment of years with them. She profiled me before she even talked to me and treated me as an addict and I am not. I looked up the med she is pushing me to get implanted once I got home – and yep its for addicts and I take great offense to that stigma they have placed on me all because of this new crap the government has placed in now controlling us as lab rats. Lyrica is bs – its only approved for Fibro because some lobbyist paid the government to get passed and labeled as such. It does not work for most and didnt work for me. Watch us patients who the meds helped so we could still work now fall off the employment roles and stop paying in taxes cuz we hurt too bad to get out of bed, the disability claims to go up, and welfare claims to go up cuz we now can’t go to work etc etc. Those who got addicted/died and blame it on the meds are wrong. It is their own fault period! And the other is cuz they buy crap on the black market and get the bad stuff that kills them, they did it to themselves so good riddance – can’t blame it on the med when the person took too much because they wanted to get high as opposed to taking as prescribed. I can’t believe we are going way backwards again to fight this war for a pain patients bill of rights again.

    • William T Noel on November 10, 2017 at 8:31 am

      If you were suffering from chronic inflammatory demylenating poloyneuropathy i bet you would change your mind real fast!

    • William T Noel on November 10, 2017 at 8:53 am

      The drug cartels are cheering because they can raise their prices now and double their imports.
      They don’t bother to smuggle in marijuana no more because it’s not worth it since legalization and regulation.
      Why don’t the stupid people in this government ever learn from their mistakes?

    • Cindy on November 13, 2017 at 1:24 pm

      Obviously, you have never experienced chronic pain and base your response on what you read on the internet. No, opioids do not cure our pain, they help enough to make it possible to go out and walk, clean our homes, shop…live life, do things you take for granted.

      You have no right to say what does or doesn’t work for another human being. You can’t possibly know how anything effects anyone but your narrow minded, opinionated, and very uneducated self. Get a life and a clue!

    • Geraldine Schweikhart on November 14, 2017 at 11:36 pm

      It is obvious you don’t know that pain can’t be lived with. I need to shoulder replacementstrap have RH arthritis and fibermarigjh. I can’t live with the pain I have and I am unable to make trips to Dr to get refills. You are killing us.We aren’t addicted just trying not to be an unbearable pain and can’t survive the know it all that don’t have a clue. Why don’t you just shoot us.

    • mary on November 15, 2017 at 11:28 am

      Maureen, I hate to tell you this, but your facts are all WRONG. The crisis surrounds oxycontin which is a high dose slow release medication that was pushed by Perdue Pharma. Oxygenated medications act very differently than hydrogenated medications. Try to sell hydrocodone on the streets. NO ONE WANTS IT. Why, because it is not strong enough to elicit the high kids are searching for. Hydrocodone, while it has abuse potential is not the drug people are hooked on and looking for. they want anything OXY. And, hydro does help many people with chronic conditions live a semi normal life. And look at the real stats of people dying from opiods, the drug is HEROIN. iN CASE YOU ARE NOT AWARE HEROIN IS NOT A PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION. Kids are dying from street drugs and so we punish pain patients and destroy their quality of life. Smart. I pray for you to end up like my sister, DYING OF CANCER and having ALL PAIN MEDS WITHHELD. It is inhumane that she had to die like that because kids are dying from heroin. And, just so you know, opiates and opiods are not one in the same as our government is making you believe. Please educate yourself becuase you sound like an inconsiderate IDIOT!

    • Harold Patrick on November 18, 2017 at 10:39 am

      Maureen Kielian is a consultant in the healthcare industry who is paid to make posts like this. She is well aware that the “studies” she cites are commissioned by interested parties and can be nuanced to show any desired result. The experience of a primary care physician with hundreds of patients for many years is far more important than any study sponsored by agencies and corporations who want to make money by condemning people to the misery of chronic pain.

    • Allen on November 18, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      Thanks for enlightening us you idiot! It’s obvious you aren’t a CPP and you have no idea what you are talking about, you have put bits and pieces of articles you have read and then commented on this article spreading more bs propaganda!

      My brothers and sisters suffering with chronic pain we are all in big trouble and I am almost certain that the pressure being put on the pharma industry will result in the end of manufacturing of Oxycodone, OxyContin etc. which will result in some 100 million CPP to suffer in silence. Pain management doctors most of which are responsibly prescribing opiates are now in fear of loosing their license to practice medicine are drastically cutting the amount of opiates they prescribe their patients leaving those 100 million CPP to loose the very thing that gives us all the ability to function, work, socialize and the everyday things most people take for granted a quality of life.

      I asked my pain management doctors if they were allowing the DEA to dictate how they were treating me as a chronic pain patient and all three of them said basically yes and they have reduced my medications to the point that I went from having excellent pain control to having zero pain control and now I am desperate for relief! How long can anyone last living in constant pain? I am outraged that the very thing that allows me to have an almost normal existence is being withheld because of the government’s meddling in my treatment plan, they didn’t target me as an individual they targeted all CPP without consideration or regard of creating an atmosphere where we are being discriminated against because of our disability!

    • Mona on November 18, 2017 at 4:48 pm

      Would never have gone to the doctor for pain pills if aspirin or another NSAID would work. The truth is that opioids do work – and they help millions function normally. You’ve clearly never had a back problem or you’d know this.

    • Maureen Chrzanowski on November 24, 2017 at 11:31 am

      The Dea and oftjerngtoups have made guidelines and
      Some require to do but you can pretty following laws . Their is a lot of misinterpretation and confusing for both cpp AND providers who have not read and or bo not
      Understand. There is massive misunderstanding and care it treatments are inadequate and need to be deceminated and we must proceed slowly with sensitivity that all are different. Please insert common sense and slow
      Physicians to prescribe appropriatelysafely without fear as the guiding force

    • Lutz on November 27, 2017 at 1:53 am

      I suffer & use oxy. I want you to have my pain. By the mere fact you don’t suffer disqualifies you from this conversation. Pontificate somewhere else!!!! Don’t waste my time by contacting me. You are not relevant.

    • Beverly Cheek on November 27, 2017 at 10:29 am

      You have no clue of reality. I am 72 and have severe spinal arthritis as well as knee neck hands and feet. I tried so many things for relief. Injections , surgery, acupuncture, exercise and weight loss.guees what I still have severe pain!! ONLY VIvdin helps enough that I can at least get out to the store and library. Little things. And my senior usage isn’t causing a drug problem. The Mexican cattle creating chemical Fynental is though. And btw have you compared the devastating of Alcohol use compared to drug use? Alcohol is so much for damaging but we don’t talk about that right? Think about it while you open your next Miller Light..

    • George on November 27, 2017 at 3:59 pm

      Maureen, perhaps you should walk in the patients shoes, it’s easy to preach and lecture from a position of moral authority when you are not suffering

    • Gari on November 27, 2017 at 6:45 pm

      My pain interrupts my daily life and has taken away many things that I use to enjoy. Since the new “Blanket” laws have put fears in good doctors of possibly loosing their lisence they are Disabled in the way they can help people with their quality of life. It will put more people at risk of death due to desperation to get out of pain.

    • Mary on November 29, 2017 at 10:49 am

      I have Fibromyalgia, bulging disks, and other back issues. The problems with my back are causing sever leg pain in both legs and weakness in both legs. I also have Restless Leg Syndrome, my doctor wants to take away the med’s that keep it at bay. I’ve told every doctor I’ve seen since the RLS that it is so bad that if I had to suffer with it “I WOULD KILL MYSELF” NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THAT. I’ve been in pain for 12 years. I’m 60 years old and have lost all my friends and family members because I can’t do what I used to do. I’m going to have to suffer for the rest of my life because of idiots overdosing.

    • Rhonda on November 29, 2017 at 11:35 am

      I have lived in horrific chronic pain from a crushing Thoracic MVA injury for last 22 years. Have never once had an addiction problem never once asked for an increase of my medication. Due to the stigma of MS asked my doctor to help me wean off morphine and did. Replaced with Tramadol and Hydrocodone, worked for years, again never changing my dose.
      Now PMP’s terrified me these two in combination would kill me. Really, after eight years and never once having a problem! Plus, now they don’t want me taking any thing if I wake up at two in the morning unable to go back to sleep.
      Truly I feel the most vulnerable and at risk that I have felt in these last 22 years.
      For goodness sake, take me to Hospice and let nature take it’s course.

    • Jerry Hall on November 30, 2017 at 12:10 am

      You are an ass. People on long term pain regimens are shown time and again to be responsible. We guard the gift of pain relief with extreme diligence. We are not the problem. Go suck an egg. (I hope it hurts)

    • Leigh Schwendeman on December 1, 2017 at 1:53 am

      I’m a believer in that true patients in chronic pain do not become addicted to their medication. It’s the patients that seek drugs. So far in 8 yrs my doctor has been ca pale of discerning who is seeking and who is in true pain. I know this bc I also know ppl who were seeking and my Dr refused to accept them as a patient
      I was forced to have a pain pump installed. To which I suffered 2 MRSA infections & I – Overdosed twice within the first month. Really ?Who does this make sense to?
      This week I was released from the hospital after receiving my second leg amputation from CLI (Critical Limb Ischemia) with 1 day dosage of pain medication of oral medication 16 – 24 mg every 3 hours. The next day the pain team thought I should be able to see my pump Dr. I couldn’t see him until the 4th day. Then all he could do was a standard tiny 10% increase. Now I’m stuck here in pain. This is only mentions 1 of multiple chronic pain issues. So what are we to do. As a pain patient we didn’t chose to live in pain. I speak of only my pain. I can’t live like this. So what our we to do? What’s the answer?

    • Linda rod on December 2, 2017 at 5:03 pm

      I’ve actually thought of suicide because I couldn’t live with my pain. These leagal drugs have helped me be able to deal with this a little better. We need to start a war against the DEA and their bull. It’s all about money they , someone must be losing money and that’s why they want to do this. Who do they think they are fooling. Then only people that believe their lies are people who are not in PAIN.
      I’m now looking into who I need to write to. I’m a registered active voter if if this continues any politician I see against me and, my suffering I will not vote for. I think if they see enough of this out cry they would shut up about this.

    • John on December 6, 2017 at 7:58 pm

      Maureen,
      You obviously do not live with daily pain. You do “REAL PAIN SUFFERERS” a disservice by spewing out paper statistics that are nothing more than bird cage liner.Let me suggest that you confine your genius opinion to something that you have first hand knowledge of.

    • Katie on December 7, 2017 at 8:25 pm

      So sad, so sad. You all can’t see what this is really about. There’s never a war on anything until the rich kids start dying from it. Why must we suffer because your brats are out of control. You’ve given them everything all their lives, now those of us who has to live our lives in pain must suffer because you want someone to to pay because your kid partied to much. Smh! Just what do you think your kids gonna turn to when they can’t get pills.

    • Living in screaming agony on December 10, 2017 at 1:44 am

      Lady you don’t know what the hell you were talking about.
      Opioids do work long-term, I unfortunately know that from first-hand experience although I wish to God I had never been in this position.
      Opioids are in fact the only thing that has ever worked for daily episodes of pain that are so severe that they are literally life threatening.
      I am talking about the kind of pain that makes people stick guns in their mouth and pull the trigger.
      I am talking about the kind of pain that makes people take warm baths with the razor blades. I am talking about the kind of pain that makes people spike their lemonade with rat poison. I am talking about the kind of pain that makes people stand in front of moving freight trains. I am talking about the kind of pain that makes people commit suicide by cop.
      You are an ignorant prejudiced moron who hasn’t got the first fucking clue what it is to live with the kind of pain that makes you literally wish to God you could fall down dead so you didn’t have to live with it for one more day, or so that you didn’t ever have to swallow another pill again.
      Don’t you think for a minute that I am simply a weak willed person because you don’t know me.
      For 7 years I have been living with the kind of pain that makes me pray to God I never wake up again.
      This is after spending 3 years praying to God that the pain would finally stop and I could go back to having my normal life, but apparently God wasn’t listening.
      The doctors have tried more different types of interventional therapies than I can count and nothing works. Nothing has worked,the only thing that does work are the oral narcotics and morons like you would deprive people like me of the only thing that keeps us sane and our brains inside our heads.

    • daniel senski on December 10, 2017 at 6:50 am

      we as patient’s know the risk but peddling your cure all pills that has a warning list 3 pages long …we’re not asking for the opiate’s to get high we want to get out of bed , take all our med’s as prescribed.to lead some semblance of life..doing home repair’s house work painting , hell after they replaced my knees I can no longer work on the ground changing my own oil ,brake job because the knee caps are do densitive . I traded one pain for 6 other pain’s I didn’t have before . so please don’t tell me it’s for the better…I have cervical discectomy ,C5-C6 , C6 C7 and the left shoulder replacement coming up soon …and I can no longer get the one drug that work’s ..10/325 hydrocodone for break through ,and OxyContin 60 mg time release 12 hour, twice a day and now they tell me it’s a thousand dollar’s if you want it , but if my wife changed her doctor and gone with TRS medicare advantage . it would cost me $48.00 per script of 60 …from the same friggen drug company just no group in front of it’s call letter’s .. but aren’t we a group also there’s just no call letter’s infron of part d medicare express script’s

    • And on December 14, 2017 at 12:07 pm

      Everyone knows that any type of opiates are additive that is besides the point. Whos answering for the suicides the increasing amount tgat will continue to rise because chronic pain patient s are not getting the medication they need or the family’s destoryed. My grandmother on my moms side had mutipal myeloma and she decided that killing her self was the best way to manage her pain my dads mom did as well she had a different kind of cancer. My momd dad did it also and our other family members that are veterans now they served their whole life defending this country and they are being refused their pain meds my husband is a vetran also been thorough almost 20 surgery s and is being denied his. Hes back to not sleeping being depressed suicidal and homicidal not including the other family’s who can not be around their loved one because of the misery they are in they in turn make their family’s miserable the people of this country need to sue the dea for wrongfull death for one to start with. And. The usa is forcing other countries to do the same thing last month one small country helped almost 5000 chronic pain patients commit suicide the usa our government does not care about their people at all and if continue to be allowed millions in our own country alone will be dead by suicides because they can not live in pain any longer

    • Deborah V on December 15, 2017 at 6:10 pm

      The new Studies she’s taking about are done by people that have an opioid bias and defying to science. Take Dr Jayne Ballantine for instance, she’s teaching our next generation of Doctors and suggested coping skills instead of the opioids that gave them some of their life back, what about those who have failed all standard treatments? Nothing has been said about that, are we going to be a society to let those with rare diseases, injuries and genetic defects suffer and die? She’s the head member of PROP and also getting paid by these addiction centers while these poor suffering individuals may lose their life! Time to speak up people!

    • renee white on December 16, 2017 at 9:50 pm

      I am 46 yrs old I am also stuck lying on the couch with pillows under my knees I cant bathe myself walk dress myself drive cook sleep I have lost my will to live I suffer from lupus RA fibro mastocytosis 3 failed hip surgeries torn labrums in both hips no disc in my low back my pain is agonizing 24/7 I throw up daily from the pain ive been on the same dose of meds for 8 yrs I also died due to a severe GI bleed they got my heart started again I wish they hadn’t because I dont live I barely exist and because of the new laws im maxed out on the dose im allowed which leaves me with unbearable pain 8-10 hrs a day you have no idea what it is to truly suffer or you would not be so ignorant in the things you say the pain I live in would make you beg for a gun to end your suffering they are lying about the deaths its heroin not prescription meds that are killing ppl and now its the DEA because every 15 min a pain pt is commiting suicide due to losing the llittle pain relief they had so do some research before you judge because like most people you have no clue whats iits like to beg for death because you cant stand the pain your living in

    • John Palmer on December 17, 2017 at 11:58 am

      Idiot, Get run over by a truck like I did . Then scream to your Doctors I don’t want anything for pain.

    • Tracy Fischer on December 18, 2017 at 8:21 am

      As usual I am reading something from a “One-eyed” shortsighted person. No one will say that you are wrong only that you can’t see beyond this single side of the problem. It is people such as you who cause the entire world trouble! When working with a problem all sides must be considered without prejudice! The result of single-sided prejudice will only be a shift of equal harm from one side to the other.
      Pain will result in the same or more suffering and loss of lifestyle than pain relievers are. Worst of all it is the civil disobedient people who cause the problem yet it is the people who suffer that are paying their dues!!! This is way too often the problem

    • jim on December 20, 2017 at 10:12 pm

      i am a chronic pain legal opiate use and whoever did the study has not lived with chronic pain and run the gambit of “try this instead”.Painkillets make a night and day difference to my functioning even though they do not “kill” the pain.I resent being lumped into laws and studies with scum street junkies.keep your laws and hands of of mine and my doctors decisions.

    • joyceproga on December 23, 2017 at 2:29 am

      Get the facts correct. The reason we are losing people is because people unlike yourself are suffering in pain and they are being cut off there medication that they need to function in this world. People are getting BLACK MARKET drugs that are laced with other drugs that are design to kill them. It is easy to assume this person has never suffering and maybe should loose a limb and try to live a normal life. Not every person is a drug ADDICT that seeks pain medication. This perception is not from a person who suffers. There are millions of people suffering right now and wish to GOD that they did not have to live a life with such pain. I am a mother a teacher a nurse who fell down and suffered with great pain more pain than I can handle. I broke my neck tore my shoulder hurt my brain . Then to top it off I suffer from a disease that is equal to stage 3 & 4 cancer(pain) I have nerve damage so bad I can hardly do anything. It never stops. Opiates dull the pain so I can get up. I am not a drug addict. You live one day of my life and tell me these drugs the only thing that helps me are horrible. Who are you to take my life away from me. You have no idea what is going on in this country. Washington D.C. everyday has Drs. fighting for my right to try to rid my body of this pain. And there are many more there are millions of people who are not drug addicts that are SUFFERING. Everyone needs to really learn what is going on how 90k opiates were shipped from overseas to a little town in Va. that just vanished. This epidemic is not just happening cause its a country full of Drs. who push drugs. This country if not just full of drug addicts. Every three months it 9/11 again…who is being attacked here the weak. I wish to GOD I could find a BRAVE SMART LAW FIRM would find me and all the hundreds of thousands of people who need help and are suffering right now because of injustice

    • Tammy on January 2, 2018 at 2:36 pm

      Then let me give you the truth as a patient. A. Opiods do work long term. I have never done a illegal drug in my life. Because of a Dr Performing the wrong surgery on both my hands I now have RSD in both hands. My caregiver is writing this because I have very little use of my hands. I have been on pain meds for 12 years. Gave them back 3 times but the pain is so bad all of the time I have no quality of life without them.The DEA under a supervisory warrent is going into Drs. Offices and pharmacys and getting patients records. This is illegal and they know it. They need to go to a judge on Each case and get a probable cause warrent but they prefer to back door it. Then they harass all of the pharmacys in the area to not take a Drs prescriptions when they can’t get him on anything. Don’t act like they are just doing their job. Legitimate pain patients are being denied medicine that would give them quality of life. People like me that take them like they are supposed to. The suicides will rise dramatically in the near future Thanks to the DEA people can not live with this kind of pain and nothing to relieve it.

    • Maria maysonet on January 3, 2018 at 11:34 am

      So what in the hell can people who suffer with chronic pain do? Why were these drugs ment to do anyway? Why have them to begain with ? There is no true answer to that except that the CDC or dea is causing a misfortune edema with their senior citizens who sufer everyday of their life’s with excruciating pain. Which is worse begin in pain and in bed , or haveing some kind of calming pain and begin able to keep on going with what little life we have left?

    • Cody Craddock on January 3, 2018 at 12:36 pm

      You are ignorant. Live a day in my body. Where you wake up in the morning barely able to move or stand. After a night of tossing and turning, getting no sleep because your in pain. imagine that every day. Now imagine have no way to get relief. No surgical solution, no solution from doctors other than take your meds and go on with life. You have no idea what you are talking about.

    • Dee on January 3, 2018 at 9:16 pm

      I’m sorry and it’s true their is and no doubt that there is people who abuse and die from taking their meds wrong! But I beleive that that number , deaths will be much greater for the people who suffer and take it rite . Many will die by the health problems they have when they curl up in a ball in bed and can’t eat , sleep or live a life and function due to their pain ! Also some will die from the health problems they have such as C. O. P. D . When they end up with congestion in their lungs ,becuase it has Anna histamines . Vets that were hurt serving our country and elderly just has to lay and Bed and suffer I’m sorry it’s just wrong !

    • Dawn DeSacia on January 4, 2018 at 6:47 pm

      Its obvious you do not suffer from chronic pain!! The people dying from overdose are not patients who have been treated long term and are stable on their much needed medication. Its the recreational users who are ODing. They also mix the opiates with things like benzo’s and alcohol. I have been suffering with a very painful nerve disease for 7 years now. Its referred to as CRPS- complex regional pain syndrome. It is also considered THE MOST PAINFUL chronic pain disorder one could have. I tried 40 different types of injections, nerve blocks, ablation, laproscopic exploratory surgery, spinal cord stimulator, physical therapy….none helped the pain. Its very difficult to diagnose too. I was finally diagnosed only 8 months ago. It is progressive and incurable. The main symptom is BURNING nerve pain, 24/7 , it doesn’t shut off. I also had a total hip replacement 1 year ago. The surgery cut into part of my body that had CRPS so it caused it to worsen. I have been given a life sentance of daily horrible pain. Imagine being in pain EVERY single day…week after week…for years!! The ONLY thing that reduces the pain is pain medication. I can do some things, like go to the store or short drives when i have proper medication. I have lost EVERYTHING!!I lost my career,home,possesions…even my dog to this pain!! Because of this WAR my meds have just been cut in half. The drs are no longer able to treat me and millions of others properly. They are in fear of losing their licenses. We are undermedicated and our new ‘drs’ are politicians!! I am unable to even try med marijuana because i have no income. I am HOMELESS, living in a van waiting for my upcomming disability hearing. I worked and paid taxes for 32 years. Don’t even want to get started on the broken SSDI in this country. Long term chronic pain patients are NOT the problem we are the casualties of this war!!

    • David on January 4, 2018 at 8:31 pm

      This lady works for some government agency ir something. She has no pain. Does not know because she is not a doctor or a patient being treated. The inicent are the ones to suffer from the uninformed lawmaker that writes blind laws for lobbiest for campaign donations. What a joke. Get a clue.

    • BILLY on January 8, 2018 at 6:23 pm

      Listen ive had 29 surgreys i have chronic pain fibromialga and brain trama i gave up all the other verey strong drugs my docters had me on you have no idea none of what your talking about im in constant pain every day and night you try liveing with the pain i do then you come talk to people about pain treatment

    • Sum Gy on January 11, 2018 at 3:09 am

      LIAR! Opioids most definitely do work. You are an ignoramus moralizing douche-bag. STOP spreading lies! I dare you to smash your arm with a sledgehammer, and then tell me about how pethidine “does not work”. Your studies are lies, conducted by moralising sadists. You deserve to be in hideous pain, and denied medication, you foul LIAR.

    • shan on January 18, 2018 at 10:39 am

      The government and doctors need a law suite brought up on them all for the torture, suffering, inhumanity and death they have caused pain patients and good human beings. They are evil denying human beings the right to pain relief. They are pure inhumane and evil that have caused suffering and death and have been putting genocide on the people… What they have done is pure “EVIL’…

    • janice mcgee on January 23, 2018 at 12:21 am

      U R a puppet of society

    • janice mcgee on January 23, 2018 at 12:38 am

      It’s these old people in congress making all the rules TERM LIMITS will help us pain sufferers..If We r 100 million strong we should march or overthrow this country…it sucks..I would recruit myself to terrorizing this country if I wasn’t in So much pain…These Whinners bout their kids dying from drug overdoses (u see daily on the fake news channels) would’ve kept a closer bond w em they might b alive today…USA We always blamin something on someone else.. this country sucks….

    • Janna on January 25, 2018 at 9:50 am

      Excuse me but, I did not get your Job Title/etc.
      Are you a Scientist?
      Ps..Curious ..Thanks

    • Tricia on January 27, 2018 at 4:35 pm

      Hey dummy and I mean that with the up most respect. If you have any type of a degree then you should know how opiates work. The brain signals the narcotic to the place/places in the body where the pain is. In return, a pain patient can function as much as humanly possible. If a person has no pain they take opiates to get high. Also, the opiate epidemic is HEROIN.

    • Dave on February 1, 2018 at 11:11 am

      The study your so aptly quoting had been proven to be false. But let me guess you have never experienced major pain issues. It’s assholes like you who are making life hard for the millions of chronic pain patents.

    • Phillip Laban on February 1, 2018 at 3:43 pm

      I have tried not to use narcotics for years. I am a retired RN. I had a epidural injection about 13 yrs ago and that just eased the sciatic nerve pain I had in my thigh, but not any of my other pain. I had a massive migraine over 36 hrs with that epidural injection and a stroke that numbed the right side of my face. The numbness went away a week after the epidural injection. I finally decided to get a couple of norcos per day for the severe pain that is not controlled by ultram. The doctor wants me to have another epidural injection that is not FDA and causes migraine, strokes, paralysis, seizures and deaths. Evidently they have been high because Switzerland and Australia have banned epidural injections all together. My pain doctor when I refused the epidural injection because I am not willing to take the risks of a stroke or being paralyzed by the epidural injection. He refused to give me any narcotics at all. He only renewed my ultram pain meds that doesn’t help enough. Ultram only gets my pain down to 3-4 but Norco will get it down to zero. But the doctor wants money for his epidural injection and he doesn’t give a damn what risks it is to his patients. All he gives a damn about is the money for the different tests or surgical procedures he can do that are riskier to the patients than the risks of a couple of norcos per day. I am a retired RN hurting really bad but I can’t get anything for pain. I cancelled that doctor’s future appointments. I am not going back to that piece of trash. A couple of pain pills per day doesn’t cause you to build up tolerance to it where it doesn’t work anymore and if it doesn’t work anymore you just have to stop taking it for a few weeks and then it will work again. You shouldn’t ever get on one of these sites. You evidently don’t think people deserve to have anything for pain. 3 billion prescriptions went through Florida in 2016. That’s 10 prescriptions for every man woman and child in the United States. It would take about 10 million people going 5 days a week every day to a doctor and getting a prescription for pain meds to get that number. That’s about the entire population of Florida. You know everyone’s not going to the doctor every day down there. It’s creative fraudulent activity. Big pharma generating huge amounts of fake prescriptions funnelled through pharmacies with no pain meds being dispensed at all. They are probably just doing that for the money they are fraudently getting for the fake prescriptions. Big pharma is probably laundering drug money through the Florida pharmacies or fraudently billing insurance and Medicare. There is no way they could make that number of pain pills in their plants and have enough pain pills for the rest of the people in the United States. That is just Florida. There are 49 other states with the massive amount of prescriptions for pain meds that it’s possible for 250 million to 500 million Americans or people to be going full time 5 days a week to a doctor for the pain meds. It’s easy to see pharma fraud and it’s hurting the people who are hurting because they are blaming us for pain med abuse to hide their own fraud.

    • Tamara Kenniston on February 2, 2018 at 4:03 am

      Clearly you have no idea what YOU are talking about. I have broken my neck and back and it continues to deteriorate. The pain is unbearable. It amazing how many people quote statues statics etc but have only read of the issue on which they feel so justified in weighing in on. Instead of the drug traffickers the police go after the addict on the street. Instead of going after illegitimacies in the pain world laws are enacted to make suffer further those already just trying to survive with their pain. How about statistics on the #1 cause of suicide is chronic pain. I have read and spoken to so many who turned to heroin just to make the physical pain stop because they could not obtain a legal Rx for pain relief. . Have you ever been in such chronic pain you can’t walk you lie in bed for days screaming literally in pain while your two small children watch helplessly. Wanting to die because you cannot walk breathe or see but only feel excruciating pain. Have you ever felt the guilt or the abject desire to want hold your baby but you can’t move for the pain. So your guilt and your pain leads you to suicidal thoughts?? Please weight in on how YOU have suffered by my epidemic. Your laws did hurt they did nothing to stem the abusers only make the sufferers further suffer. The well meaning are only holier than thou clueless politicians and mindless frightened drones upholding their non educated misplaced fears. This is ever so reminiscent of the current struggle of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome people. As we are now finding it’s not people being lazy as so many jokes are told but a form of encephalitis and the most underfunded disease to date. But due to this finally affecting “important” people there is now a committee though funding still being rejected to bring funding and awareness to it. When I was young I served in Law Enforcement then served my country during a war never have drank a drop of alcohol or even tried an illegal drug. Still I have been labeled an addict because I needed pain medication to get our bed just to hold my child. I stopped taking the meds and became an invalid unable to stand the stigma as my honor is all So now my fractures and plates and bones are so degenerated they are objecting me with cement in my back to try and hold me together and I need more surgeries. I’ll just bite down on that thar’ Piece of leather and take swig of whiskey. Doctors can keep you alive put you back together like Frankenstein or force you to live until your a shelll old and full of holes in your thin skin but they don’t want to see the ugly they force you to live with and your punished for attempting to have some quality of life. And people say don’t kill yourself you have so much to live for. This is no life. So before espouse your lovely “statistics” done in some lab by some sterile human come live in my skin and watch how fast you change your tune so please stop singing it’s offkey and it’s an affront to the truth of true pain sufferers.

    • Mel on February 3, 2018 at 5:40 pm

      Do you have type 1 diabetes . I have had it for 32 years since age 14. Hourly fluctuations in blood sugar levels my endocrinologist can’t control have led to severe electrical shock pains in hands and feet along with burning pain. This is constant and never goes away like type 1 itself. There aren’t any BREAKS EVER. The baton and gov’t have left me out in the CD. I feel sick for 32 years yet I still have to work and support my family. And no type1 is an autoimmune disease unlike 2 so before you assume I’m ok with insulin and just can’t have sweets educate yourself. I am not on opiods but this whole hysteria has resulted in my being treated like a criminal for being prescribed lyrica which is anti convulsant. Its been put on the very bottom of the controlled substances list. My doctor did not put in my refill on time and the withdrawal was so horrific. Doctor s are now under fire for prescribing even that cuz of this hysteria. It’s unfair to punish me because people abuse these things. I guess you Maureen, are more concerned with the healthy recreational abusers right than mine as a pain patient. Before you parrot that crap consider that I never had a choice in getting my disease or pain. Abusers at least have a choice to use for fun. On top of that with rehabilitation treatment they can cure their disease of drug addiction. No matter what my pain will never go away. I have no choice. I hope you or someone you love gets denied pain medication for a horrifically painful chronic disease. You will then wonder why the abusers right is chosen over your right for pain relief.
      M

    • Richard saxon on April 5, 2023 at 6:31 pm

      I believe they have the right idea of making it a schedule two drug which calls for higher punishments when criminally used
      .but to restrict a patient like myself who has a five level fusion in my neck with two steal bars and six level fusion two bars and two cages attaching my spine to my hips with no history of opiate abuse is criminal it is inhuman like treartment of a permanently disabled individual..heck my x-rays alone should grant me access to the medication without hassle. Yet for two years now I have been without and it’s been the worst existence a human being should ever have to endure . I wish noone the agony I live with every day. It makes me bitter and angry all the time. Even law enforcement has no idea how to handle a naturally pain derived anger that is no danger to anybody but myself last year 15 cops drew down on me because I responded on an angry fashion to a deputy. The law needs to be amended before people like me loose their lives over this law change for chronic pain sufferers. Richard s

      • Richard saxon on April 6, 2023 at 1:12 am

        I was a lead carpenter.a auto body repairman.a auto parts dealer .a plumbing foreman.a grocery manager.a district merchandiser.a roofer.a fence builder a floor tech . Stock personal.and even a mechanic I couldn’t hold a job for more than three years before they let me go because of my back problems from birth. I’ve lived in pain all my life hell I never had physical education in school cuz my back excluded me from any physical activity.every company I work¹ed for loved me and my work but eventually had to take in consideration was I wasn’t dependable.v in always had a doctor’s note but couldn’t walk from time to time and off I went bluffing my way into a new job. I have a genius IQ I just never applied myself for I felt sorry for myself.vi would start new job saying I new it and would learn it on the go never revealing I never did it before.but the pain of starting over every three years and trying to do what was best staying away from opiates . Eventually I slowed down my pain got worse and my will got weak. I started taking the meds and could cope without it my depression takes over and I wouldn’t get out of bed for weeks on end. What I’m trying to say is it gave me something that resembled a real life. A responsible adult who is part of his community.withoutvit I’m a mess I’m now doing what ever I can get to get by. I don’t believe in suicide so I’m stuck with black market drugs to survive. And it’s because of the government changes to the law without an alternative medication in place they drove me to illegal drugs. Now it’s just a matter of time either the drugs take me out or the police arrest me for possession. What kind of life has our government left me to live. I curse every polition who voted for this restriction of pain meds. Who never had to live my life for more than a few seconds in there imagination.curse you all

  2. Hilary Brown Smith on April 6, 2015 at 5:09 pm

    I’m a pharmacist and now a fibromyalgia and chronic pain patient. I am also recovering from a rotator cuff repair that was re torn and am slowly healing. I have always felt compassion with pain patients decades ago before the DEA instituted their new rules. I thought the relationship with my physician was strong enough that new rules wouldn’t affect his ability to prescribe my narcotic; however I was wrong. Fortunately I found a great pain specialist who has been very supportive. I wish that other were as fortunate but we know that’s unlikely. My company had been forced to comply knowing that some legitimate patients would be denied ttheir medication. My discretion and drug monitoring was insufficient. As a practitioner for 25 years I know this by far is the most destructive practice I can recall. Bottom line : every patient is unique and their individual circumstances should be respected; one cookie cutter way of treating patients is a sure design for failure.

    • Christina on May 10, 2017 at 5:35 pm

      I was prescribed hydrocodone (10.325) Three times a day. I was diagnosed with Endometrosis about 20 years ago after an ectopic pregnancy. I had 3-4 Laparoscopy Surguries to help with the pain.My Doctor got into some legal troubles. Now, my GYN, wants me to get on Lupton. I’m getting married in Sept . And o would like to finally have a child. I’m turning 40 in Dec. I don’t have time to wait on the Lupton. I’d rather just continue with pain meds, pray and maybe find a hormone replacement. How do I ‘re-establish my medication?

    • Kristin on May 12, 2017 at 3:04 pm

      I concur with your assessment of the opioid restrictions as unduly harmful for those with chronic pain who don’t have the luxury of multimodal treatment. I’m 45 year old mother with a very painful, connective tissue disorder effecting my entire body, frequent joint dislocations and even poor enamel on my teeth. My disease has required multiple surgeries, has co-morbid conditions such as arthritis, migraines, musculoskeletal pain and nerve pain. My condition was not properly diagnosed until after my children were born (both disabled and high needs-autism, mental illness and a host of other things needing therapy). By then I started experiencing kidney disease from years of NSAID use. I’ve tried the mindfulness meditation class, exercise of all variations, tens unit and massage. Nothing helps me get through the day but pain medication and braces. I used to be an attorney, graduating college and law school plus passing the BAR exam before my 26th birthday. I’m not someone who was unproductive or unmotivated. Now I can barely do my part to care for my children who I have to advocate for on a daily basis. One doctor told me the solution was to not pick up or hold my 1 1/2 year old son. Absurd! Children need their parents to hold, love and play with them in order to develop normally. This is especially important for special needs kids who are shunned by others. Government, the medical professional and non-pain suffering people need to stop punishing unlucky people who has chronic illness just because some people abuse drugs. Addiction is a disease of the emotions, treat mental illness properly and your addiction rate goes down. No one wants to restrict alcohol even though it is a much bigger problem in both cost and deaths. The reason is that people that drink aren’t willing to give it up to “save” those that suffer from its harmful far reaching effects on society. Hypocrisy.

      • shirley b stokes on July 18, 2017 at 2:41 pm

        Kristen, I totally agree with you.

      • Cindy on July 20, 2017 at 12:30 pm

        Amen

      • B. Davis on August 16, 2017 at 9:25 pm

        ?? preach!!!❤️

      • Kimberly Handley on October 8, 2017 at 8:25 am

        AMEN. Praying for you, & all of us.

      • John on October 16, 2017 at 5:19 am

        Got that right they are all functional alcoholics! And don’t suffer from any pain that a Advil would fix for a day or 2 till pain was gone now change that to you wake up in pain you go all day till bed in pain! Bet your butt that if you got big $ or a palliation or police man fire man even the President would get them in a heartbeat! If wanted or needed a, opiate especially for pain relief they get what ever they needed without feeling or treated like as if you are drug seeker!

      • Maria maysonet on January 3, 2018 at 11:45 am

        I truly agree with you 100% yes alcohol by far is a bigger problem, but hard to understand why it’s not being address properly you wonder ? It’s defently a hipocresí al together. I guess hospital emergency rooms will be dealing with a lot of elicit over doses, because people are turning to street drugs to calm their evils . Sad and shame on the CDC and dea!

    • Jbennett74 on July 14, 2017 at 1:54 pm

      I’m Overwhelmingly Thankful for Your Integrity, and Willingness to Speak Out About the Aspects that No One Wants to Validate or Even Listen To. It’s Gong to Take a Miracle to Improve the Devastating Consequences this Has Caused Legitimate Pain Patient’s, but I Hope a Piece of That Miracle Comes from Those in a Position Such as Yours, Who Aren’t Afraid to Set the Record Straight, and Expose the Dark Truths About the Agony and Suffering They’ve Caused.
      Sincerely, Thank You, Jackie

    • Cristina on July 22, 2017 at 3:27 am

      You are absolutely right! ! My Dr. Had everyone he treated take a DNA test. Point being, I, unlike someone else I know, responded only to 1 pain killer as the one that would kill my pain! They always give morphine, however my DNA test plainly shows that I could kill a horse before I am painless. (Stay away from codine,morphine, and vallium)!!! (These don’t work in my case )! Yet a good friend had the same test, and it said stay away from what worked for me! !!! We are not cookies! !! We don’t have the same CRAP! (SORRY, DIDN’T KNOW HOW ELSE TO SAY THAT )!!!!!!! What happens to me if I’m in an accident and can’t vocalize my feelings? ?? I guess I’ll be in a comma with the feeling of wanting to DIE!!!! But no one can hear me! !!! This is all CRAP! THE DEA THINKING THEY ARE JUST GETTING THE BAD GUYS, we are not the same! !!!!

    • Bonny Sullivan on August 28, 2017 at 7:59 pm

      I agree. I also am struggling with rotator cuff pain & back injuries sustained from Auto accident. My Dr of 15 yrs chose to take an early retirement as he no longer felt he could really care for his patients (treating pain) the same way since the new opiod restrictions. My new Dr flatly refused to EVER prescribe opioid pain meds under ANY circumstances whether it be acute or chronic pain. So I’m trapped in a daily life of moderate and some days severe pain. I even went to our local e.r. one day for severe pain only to be told they can’t prescribe any narcotic pain meds through the e.r. What’s this world coming to? Rediculous

      • AJ on October 1, 2017 at 10:46 pm

        Medical terrorism!

    • Geraldine Schweikhart on November 14, 2017 at 11:42 pm

      Wish all our Dr had to endure this pain.Itime is only way they would understand it.
      Remind me of polications. Never lived in our world and will never understand it.

    • Rhonda on November 29, 2017 at 11:41 am

      Amen! One size does not fit all. I too am able to self regulate. Sick of hearing about the opioid epidemic. Sorry, I don’t understand it and I don’t want to understand it.

  3. James Padgett on April 6, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    Thank you for this article. It is so refreshing to hear a voice of reason.

  4. Susan on April 6, 2015 at 8:02 pm

    This is going to be a very controversial comment, but in my long and painful experience, hydrocodone is mostly useless for long-term pain. Ultimately, the only pain it ends up relieving is that of withdrawal. Let me explain. I am a chronic pain sufferer. I suffer daily excruciating back pain, and I have tried literally everything to relieve it. When a new doctor gave me Vicodin, I felt like I had discovered heaven. For the first time in years, there was no pain. My life was normal again. Gradually, my tolerance increased, and I needed more and more to achieve the same effect. Eventually, no amount worked, and my body’s natural pain-relieving chemicals were no longer produced. By the time I sought help, I was taking 60 pills a day, and as I stated, the only thing these pills were doing was preventing withdrawal. I truly believe there are many in my situation who are ashamed to admit it, because doctors give these drugs out too freely and for too long. It’s been 10 years since I’ve taken an opiate, and I relieve my pain with ibuprofen now. I swear it works better. I take 800 mg instead of the recommended 200 mg. You can take up to 3600mg a day. And I only have to take it when I’m really in pain. Think about it. People who are dying in pain. They often say they are “out of it”. Why? Because once your tolerance grows enough, the amount you have to take to have an effect would make you nearly comatose. I’m not a doctor, I’m just speaking from my own experience. But this is what I believe. I think these are evil drugs that destroy lives. They nearly destroyed mine.

    • Rob on May 10, 2017 at 11:02 am

      You even abuse the “ibuprofen” you take ! Ha hahahah Why can’t people just admit that it was “THEM’ who “ABUSED” the drug’s, and “NOT” the Doctor or the Drug itself ? ‘ibuprofen” RECOMMENDS you take 200mg and you go ahead and take 800mg ? I don’t know what else to say !

      • Scott C. on July 12, 2017 at 2:02 pm

        Rob, way to go buddy. Keep making yourself look like an uneducated idiot!

        Ibuprofen comes prescribed in an 800 mg format and taking 800 mg at a time is NOT OVERDOSING or ABUSE of the drug.

        Also, I have a feeling you have never dealt severe pain that can literally drop you to your knees…the kind of pain that took you from a great and productive life to where you can’t even play with your two young children, let alone hold a job because the pain is so severe.

        Try educating yourself before posting…it only makes YOU look idiotic!

        • Cindy on July 20, 2017 at 12:37 pm

          For me only I can’t take ibuprofen any mg. It makes my blood pressure go up. That’s from my doctor. Watch someone u love die from liver failure from nsaids. And then come and talk. Not judging one thing that works for one doesn’t work for another. NSAIDs are bad

          • Me on July 24, 2017 at 12:49 am

            Amen!



      • Brandy on July 21, 2017 at 9:19 pm

        Omg really Rob your a real MORON!! Don’t speak of things you clearly have no understanding of. How dare you laugh at someone whose genuinely stating their feelings and experience. As for you mocking her for her “ibuprofen” use…..doctors commonly prescribe IBUPROFEN 800MG FOR PAIN 2 – 4 TIMES A DAY. It just shows how clearly uneducated you are. Troll somewhere else.

        • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 5:42 am

          Ok guys, ease up on poor Rob. I don’t think he was trolling. Sounds like he was picturing OTC motrin, which would be max 200mg. I think Susan was trying to say she is using OTC meds in lieu of px meds. I chuckled to, after I gasped in horror about any *logical person in Chronic PAIN MANAGEMENT taking what surely must have been most, if not a good Chunk of a month’s worth of pills every day, then doing a flipflop away from anything stronger than an OTC medicine. beating each other up will NOT help us make any progress.

      • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 5:35 am

        Exactly!! FOR sUSAN: not *everyone has a tolerance which would grow to amounts that would kill a normal person. Not *everyone would chose to Self-Medicate themselves by taking most of their prescription in one day. Not *everyone would be able to even get copious/unlimited amounts of medicines to do what you say you did. Not *everyone has a [GP] willing to write vast amounts of pills. Not *everyone can revert back to “Motrin”. If that truly works on the severe, crippling pain you must have had to abuse your meds in such a way- as you never mentioned any mental issues – why oh WHY didn’t you just try the darn motrin to begin with??? taking 60 of ANY pill sounds insane, I can’t believe this was strictly “pain” you were dealing with. Sounds like a bit of mental pain thrown in. Glad you’re feeling better, be careful with that motrin though!

      • George on October 11, 2017 at 6:55 pm

        Hmmmm…….Rob must be a ” yes man ” and spokesperson for the CDC because his knowledge on these issues puts him right in their league of thinking !!

    • Cindy on May 13, 2017 at 4:47 pm

      I will never take the amount you took of opioids! I want to live and the amount I take is the same I am I was told 8 yrs. Ago, when you have a long term disease causing horrible pain like fibromyalgia, diabetic nerve pain, osteoporosis (severe) you can’t take all the pain away, all you can do is ease the pain to bearable. So to say all get addicted is wrong, some have the knowledge to fight against addiction along with the rest of their battle! It’s statements like that causing people to LOSE their pain treatment and definitely not a person with a high amount of pain daily.

      • Jbennett74 on July 14, 2017 at 2:00 pm

        Nicely Stated. I Do Understand His Position, and in Some Cases, He’s Probably Right. Hell, This Night Has Made Me Doubt Myself Too Many Times to Count. But as You Mentioned, I’ve Never Come Close to Flirting with The Amounts He Was Taking. There Are Those Who Abuse Them, and Those of Us Who Use Them- (Correctly), Because They’re Effective.

    • Scott C. on July 12, 2017 at 2:11 pm

      – Judging by the medications you spoke of, you “haven’t tried them all”…not even close. Vicodin is one of the weakest opioids prescribed for pain management.

    • BBillie Sheads on July 17, 2017 at 9:55 pm

      New guidelines recommend that person’s over 49 avoid ALL nsaids. They preciptate heartattacks and death. I’ve been on the same dose of Hydrocodone for 15 years and get good pain relief for chronic back pain and botched surgery. Each patient is different.

    • Mark on July 19, 2017 at 4:43 pm

      How did even get a dr to give you 60per day. You and your dr should be in jail.

    • Doris on July 24, 2017 at 9:17 am

      I might agree to some extent but what if the ibuprofen has eaten away at your duodenum and the lining of your stomach and you have 12 bleeding ulcers? I was told by a gastroenterologist never take it again for you will die. My Dr. now? It is your only option. So they would rather I die than prescribe the only medication that I can take. Is there not a problem with that?

    • Ashley on July 27, 2017 at 4:39 pm

      I agree that hydrocdone along with lots of short acting pain meds are bad for long term pain management. I think that’s where problems start. People need to be on long acting pain meds for chronic pain and only use the short acting meds for peak pain.

      • Amanda on August 13, 2017 at 7:59 pm

        I completely agree with you Ashley! I started out with having to take (2) 5/500 Vicodin 4 times a day for a year and a half after breaking my neck in two places when I was rear ended in a car accident in Aug. 2007. Then my Nuerosurgeon put me on (2) 10/325 Norco (higher dose of Vicodin just less Tylenol) up to 4 times a day. After having two Anterior Cervical Fusions with Disectomy’s (which failed both times) I was told that the broken screw from the hardware placed in my neck would remain. I had an expieramental drug injection into the C5 & C6 and wore a Bone Growth Stimulator and my surgical collar for 6 months. The pain I had was unbearable at a level of 10+. I asked my Nuerosurgen what’s next? He said that there was nothing I could do but continue taking the same fast release medication I was currently taking the rest of my life.

        Here’s the kicker with that. Not even a month later, I fell asleep at the wheel 3 hours after taking that medical and crashed my car head on into a tree. I was referred to a pain management program facility that was facilitated by my local hospital. I had tried several extended releasing opioids. They finally placed me on Methadone ER 10 mg x 3 daily. It has worked beautifully with no and I mean absolutely no ill side effects for the last year. I was able to start living again in life. Not just lying on the couch and existing. Now since the governor in Indiana signed the SEA226 bill into law that took effect on July 1, 2017, the new docto (whom has not examined me at all or even taken a look at my medical file) has decided to take me off of my Methadone in4 weeks. I’ve not only suffered with extreme withdrawl symptoms from being weaned off on the fast releasing form of Methadone, but, just this last Thursday I had a car accident because I can’t turn my head to the right very far without a tremendous amount of pain. The clenched is this new pain doctor is on vacation and has asked not to be disturbed!? I can’t even get in to see him until 9/15/17. His nurse has been told to tell all of the patients to under 90 and whom aren’t terminally ill from cancer that we’re to use NSAIDS and be referred to his two choices of “Behavriol management” therapist. I explained that I’ve already spent out of pocket $25k 7 years ago for that. And I’ve already done the NSAIDS. When I take them they raise the white blood cell count extremely high in my liver (yes. I have my liver checked out when I have my lipids and A1C checked every ) months). So, I guess when I take the fast release opioids I have accidents. Why? Because they release everything all at once and painrelief (at least for me) is insufficient. And I have a doctor that’s negligent! But, what can we do? Right now if I switch pain doctors, I’m looked at like a common “pill popper” shopping around for pain medicines. I tried to find a new doctor two weeks ago. The whole practice turned me away. Even when I’m now considering doin the Promera II Pain implant pump into my spine with the pump being surgically placed into my abdomen.

        To the CDC, Government officials and President Trump (whom I proudly voted for), the simple minded and in-educated people of the country, Those of us suffering from an agonizing life with chronic pain only want some form of a “new normal” life. It means that we’ve accepted a tolerable amount of pain. We know we won’t ever be what we were before what we are living with now. It means we are only seeking some form of relief, accepting what relief we have and moving on. There are patients like myself that have followed all of the rules from our pain management doctors. We’ve given up our 4th Ammendment right of unjust search and seizure and have submitted to a drug test by either urine or blood. We have taken all of our prescription bottles to the pain management appointments every month to three months to be counted. And feeling like we’re the criminals. We pay the higher co- pays to see the specialist the call “pain management”. We So all of this for relief!!! Not to get high or to sell the medication.

        I understand the epidemic all yo well from personal expierence. I’ve had a family member that was addicted to meth. This family member has also stolen half a bottle of a newly refilled bottle of my Norco when I wasn’t in the vehicle. Talk about feeling uncomfortable having that discussion! And having to live with the pain and using Tylenol to just try to have it help what Norco I had left from that whole incident. The pain and embarrassment was horrible. Since that happened, I now lock my pain medicine and children’s ADHD meds up in my husbands gun safe every time she comes to visit or for family holidays. So I understand the epidemic more than people think. Then not too mention having your employer accuse you of being a pill popper. Wanting to know what you’re taking and why you’re wearing a tens unit. It’s none of their business. It’s a violation of the HIPPA Act!

        Thank you for letting me voice my opinions and experiences. I hope it does help those out there understand that chronic and severe pain after failed surgeries are real! It’s not in our heads! I’ve had 3 psychiatrist, 2 psychologists, 2 psycho nurses and my current therapist tell me that my pain is real. The nurses have heard me scream and thriving in pain when I came out of the Anesthia after my last failed neck surgery.

        What I’d like to know from people that don’t suffer chronic or severe pain, is what is a pain free life worth to you? What would you feel like when you can’t pick up your 2 year old daughter because someone broke your neck in 2 places? How would you go on living in this world when you can’t participate and engage fully in life? How would you feel when you have to tell your spouse you can’t make love because the pain is unbearable? And, finally, could you simply exist in life knowing that you’re a drain or an embarrassment to your whole entire family? Live one day in my world. I’d gladly trade you one of your pain free days for one of my uncontrolled painful days (at the very least level of pain) gladly. Don’t take for granted living life without physical pain. You’ll never realize how precious that is until you spend one day in my body. God bless!

    • Wendy on August 12, 2017 at 4:07 pm

      I think this plays into what the critics are saying about us Chronic Pain patients unfortunately, I don’t know of any CPP personally that takes 60 pills a day, probably not even 10 pills a day. There can definitely be underlying addictive personalities at play. The largest majority of CPP take their pain medications only as they’re prescribed and no matter what they don’t take too many because they know they’ll run out before the next script is fillable. Susan many of us can’t take high doses of nsaids and if inflammation isn’t your problem then nsaids do very little for most people, plus the risk of heart and stroke issues really increases with daily and/or higher doses of NSAIDs so you dodge one bullet for another sometimes. I’m glad it works for you, it’s just not the answer for most. Opiates are not evil, it’s a pill that offers freedom for many. I’ve been on the same dose since April 2009, no increases, just three 7.5/325 Vicodin’ per day. I don’t crave them and when my script runs out my normal pain levels return. These medications just make your pain manageable and when people start eating 60 of them a day then this goes well beyond managing pain, it’s good that you got help but rarely do CPP turn out this way. I do wish you all the best.

      • Jerry Hall on November 30, 2017 at 1:01 am

        Amen.
        If all these threads speak to one thing – its that everyone is different.
        The awful truth is that these meds work for some – and not for others.
        And it can really suck when doctors hand stuff out like candy to folks predisposed to becoming addicted. Young lives ruined all too fast.
        That is indeed a problem. But kicking my ass is not the solution!
        Trust me, if I had any alternative to taking narcotics, I’d be all over it.
        But as far as I know, the only solution offered to date is suck it up.
        I’ve done that. Doesn’t really work for me – or anyone else that knows what I’m talking about because they can slip all too easily right into my shoes. And I can just about guarantee you that they aren’t any happier about living their life dependent on… uh, excuse me a sec – for god’s sake – I can’t believe I fogot to grab my meds! Sorry everyone… gotta cut it short.
        As a person who has agonized the long days and longer nights of unforgiving pain – many times faced with trying to make a decision of having a little relief, and wanting to throw up all day from the nausea caused by so many different “new and improved” pain meds – or taking a day off so I could keep some food down while curled up in a fetal position begging the powers at be to just take my leg – this on top of the crushed vertabrae – to finally find the right “fit” of combined long term/ short term pain meds that enabled me to put up a fight, learn to walk again, and actually be able to think and reason and be a productive member of society. Gratefully, carefully guarding my scripts. Never telling anyone what I was taking. Never taking an extra dose – no matter how bad it was… because I knew how much worse it could actually be. Making it work. And now some ass(es) come along to tell me I have been taking too much – and I have to cut the dose that has helped keep me human for ten years – IN HALF.
        Sure… no problem. I mean, come on people. There are alternatives!
        Heck, I feel silly whining. Its all been worked out for us all. Sure, you’re going to need a designated driver – and should probably update you last will and testament – but all the same – the government taketh and the government gives away. As I blather on, the local county government is looking to build out a couple of “safe” injection sites fairly close to my community – free needles and plenty of pushers just down at the corner. It’s the perfect plan.
        Get in line folks!
        Good luck to you all – keep fighting.
        JH

    • Kat valentine on August 23, 2017 at 4:29 pm

      You will likely die of a bleeding ulcer or heart failure, Advil is extremely dangerous and u are taking to much! I took it as directed for 3years and ended up with a bleeding ulcer. People like your dr are the reason the rest of us are suffering! 60 Vicodin ?? And your dr gave that to u? You will prob have a bad liver! U abused your meds.

    • Erin on August 25, 2017 at 11:01 pm

      Susan: 60 PILLS A DAY??? I’m on 30 mg oxycodone 4 a day. for 3 herniated bulging discs, 3 fractured vertebrae; (bone on bone), osteoarthritis, sciatica, migraines. A tiny patch, I cant even tell helps, 3 soma, and xanax for PTSD from child abuse. Same regimen 25 years. After 3 years, my doc said today (after taking in a highly tattooed new young patient) he’s referring me to another doc I already saw once and cant stand! Idiot said I have Fibro and hair cuts hurt after reading my MRI. He cut me back already to now low dose, and Im barely functional, but survive. (Low dose already says my research, have friend 2x my dose!) I don’t know whats going on, but Feds want pop control, more $, so why cut big pharma? Im in Cali and 4x as many die from alcohol! CUT THAT! (Gal up front says “he’s not there enough”) I was nearly in tears. Has another office, only here 2 x a week. I come once a mo. How long does it take to write a script? Or give 2 mos at once, if so backed up. Yet takes new patients? I was in BAD car wreck last year, NOT MY FAULT, where an idiot ran a stop. Never an accident at fault in my life, don’t drink, never taken illegal drugs save weed which won’t help pain, just paranoia. Only once asked for 5 day early refill to go on vacay. Don’t doc shop, done nothing wrong! I feel after reading these comments, I’m terrified if Im going to be able to get my meds! I dont even feel a buzz from any of it. People like YOU PENALIZE US responsible, chronic pain sufferers! IM 60! IF I WERE GOING TO OD, I WOULD BY NOW! I WILL IF THEY CUT ME OFF, than suffer! I can barely sleep through the night. As it is, I hardly do yard work, carry in water, groceries, swim, or walk as i used to. Had to give up biking and dance. I just want to sleep like everyone here, have a semblance quality of life with relief. Inhumane to punish, stigmatize us for drug abusers. We must start a petition. I signed one already online for chronic pain medicine rights. We all MUST do that! Organize a march with our canes walkers, wheelchairs, etc! They want us to end our misery, just “useless eaters”! They cant tax us to death anymore so eliminate the disabled! Many kill themselves cant take the pain! Stats prove VERY FEW OD’S OVER 45! Its stupid millennials OR we who do purposely, being deprived of our meds!

    • Amory on August 25, 2017 at 11:02 pm

      Susan: 60 PILLS A DAY??? I’m on 30 mg oxycodone 4 a day. for 3 herniated bulging discs, 3 fractured vertebrae; (bone on bone), osteoarthritis, sciatica, migraines. A tiny patch, I cant even tell helps, 3 soma, and xanax for PTSD from child abuse. Same regimen 25 years. After 3 years, my doc said today (after taking in a highly tattooed new young patient) he’s referring me to another doc I already saw once and cant stand! Idiot said I have Fibro and hair cuts hurt after reading my MRI. He cut me back already to now low dose, and Im barely functional, but survive. (Low dose already says my research, have friend 2x my dose!) I don’t know whats going on, but Feds want pop control, more $, so why cut big pharma? Im in Cali and 4x as many die from alcohol! CUT THAT! (Gal up front says “he’s not there enough”) I was nearly in tears. Has another office, only here 2 x a week. I come once a mo. How long does it take to write a script? Or give 2 mos at once, if so backed up. Yet takes new patients? I was in BAD car wreck last year, NOT MY FAULT, where an idiot ran a stop. Never an accident at fault in my life, don’t drink, never taken illegal drugs save weed which won’t help pain, just paranoia. Only once asked for 5 day early refill to go on vacay. Don’t doc shop, done nothing wrong! I feel after reading these comments, I’m terrified if Im going to be able to get my meds! I dont even feel a buzz from any of it. People like YOU PENALIZE US responsible, chronic pain sufferers! IM 60! IF I WERE GOING TO OD, I WOULD BY NOW! I WILL IF THEY CUT ME OFF, than suffer! I can barely sleep through the night. As it is, I hardly do yard work, carry in water, groceries, swim, or walk as i used to. Had to give up biking and dance. I just want to sleep like everyone here, have a semblance quality of life with relief. Inhumane to punish, stigmatize us for drug abusers. We must start a petition. I signed one already online for chronic pain medicine rights. We all MUST do that! Organize a march with our canes walkers, wheelchairs, etc! They want us to end our misery, just “useless eaters”! They cant tax us to death anymore so eliminate the disabled! Many kill themselves cant take the pain! Stats prove VERY FEW OD’S OVER 45! Its stupid millennials OR we who do purposely, being deprived of our meds!

    • GuestUser on August 31, 2017 at 5:32 am

      Susan, not *everyone has a tolerance which would grow to amounts that would kill a normal person. Not *everyone would chose to Self-Medicate themselves by taking most of their prescription in one day. Not *everyone would be able to even get copious/unlimited amounts of medicines to do what you say you did. Not *everyone has a [GP] willing to write vast amounts of pills. Not *everyone can revert back to “Motrin”. If that truly works on the severe, crippling pain you must have had to abuse your meds in such a way- as you never mentioned any mental issues – why oh WHY didn’t you just try the darn motrin to begin with??? taking 60 of ANY pill sounds insane, I can’t believe this was strictly “pain” you were dealing with. Sounds like a bit of mental pain thrown in. Glad you’re feeling better, be careful with that motrin though!

    • Neo on October 29, 2017 at 9:49 pm

      Hello Susan
      I don’t doubt your experience, however just because that was your experience does not mean that other people react the same way to opioids. I have taken opioids for years and they have been very effective in allowing me relief from pain, as well as the ability to keep working. I have found no need to constant keep increasing my dosage. My body releases the opioids every six hours; meaning no matter if I take long acting opioids or short acting opioids after six hours the effectiveness is gone after six hours. Everyone has a different system, different blood types act differently to medication, so you cannot conclude that a drug is not effective, or is no good, or evil simply because that was your experience. So Hydrocodone or Vicodin didn’t work well for you, but that is all you can say is that it did not work well for you. For someone else it can be a miracle drug allowing them a decent quality of life. We have to grow up people and realize that just because we have had a certain experience does not mean that others will have or do have the exact same experience. The most you can actually conclude is that the particular treatment you used did not work for you, but that in no way reflects on how it does or does not work for other people with different aliments, different blood types, and a different bodily system to yours.

    • Jessica S. on November 5, 2017 at 8:49 pm

      First, I would like to say thank you for sharing your experience. We do not agree regarding opioids as affective pain management. We can’t agree to disagree. Second, I am absolutely appalled at the people who have commented here bashing this poster. As far as 60 pills a month, that is extremely common and no one should be jailed. People are completely different with genetic differences. Among other conditions, I suffer from EDS. It is beyond painful. Hydrocodone does not work for me either but oxycodone does. Chronic pain patients need to stick together and quit putting each other down. As far as the mental illness comment, you have a problem. People with mental illness are not always an addict. You are feeding into PROP, Kolodney, Chris Christie and more. All I ask is that people treat each other with respect and please realize everyone is completely different. What works for one does not work for another. It’s as simple as that. Take your anger, your pain, your frustration, and all the same things from your loved ones and point it in the direct place. Also remember that opiates have been around for years and years. Never has there been a time something like this has ever came up. The only exception would be world war two patients who received actual heroin for treatment back in the early 1900s. In fact, it was not uncommon for a pharmacist to easily describe her when back in the day. Now I have never tried heroin and I do not want to but that is the strongest form. They correctly start with that and I agree. However, with it being so open and easy to obtain there still were no implications like those that have been done today. Start asking yourself why please. Look at the true cause of this so called epidemic.

      You have found yourself here because you suffer from pain. Pain that you cannot get help with. It might be the latter, where you are blaming opioids because someone you know has died. If that’s the case I apologize. This epidemic is not being correctly reported to the public. Most who have died have mixed opioid medication with tranquilizers such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, other drugs. That’s what you do not hear and that is what you need to start asking for. This is my opinion and you can attack me all you want because quite frankly, I will still be fighting regardless and I will still respect you. I am just asking you to open your eyes just a little bit and try to see someone else’s issues. Take a walk in their shoes.

      • Jessica S. on November 5, 2017 at 8:54 pm

        I apologize for the incorrect grammar and miss spellings because I cannot type correctly, forced to use voice dictation which does not always come out correctly. Keep that in mind before you try to throw me in the fireplace.

    • George on November 27, 2017 at 4:13 pm

      60 pills a day huh? first off you are obviously one of the people who is causing this crisis by misusing your prescription, second off you couldn’t live through 60 pills a day so you’re obviously lying! your credibility is destroyed you should remove your post and return to your hole in the ground and let those of us who truly suffer post comments that are meaningful and truthful! sorry Susan I know the truth hurts but you should still try to stick to it a little bit

    • Rhonda on December 1, 2017 at 11:16 pm

      Plus, that a mount of NSAID product will ruin most peoples stomachs. It surely did mine. Remember, always eat prior to taking.

  5. Anonymous on April 7, 2015 at 12:11 am

    I am one who suffers chronic pain and my family Dr. is no longer allowed to prescribe the hydrocodone anymore, so I have to go to a pain management dr. just to get the pain relief meds I need. This world is always going to have drug abusers it will never ever stop, just like people are drunkards, they won’t stop. Criminals with guns, even though they may convicted felons and aren’t supposed to have access to guns they still buy them illegally and go out and commit crimes. Us chronic pain sufferers rely on these kinds of meds just to get through each day, because sometimes the pain is horrific. I feel any one who is a chronic pain sufferer should be easily accessible to the pain meds they need. My pain dr. does urine tests to make sure you are actually using them and not selling them. So that should be the number one thing a family dr needs to do if he has doubts about the person he is writing the prescriptions for.

  6. Anonymous on April 7, 2015 at 1:45 am

    Sounds all too familiar. To suddenly find out the new law had gone into affect and my refills for the pain I use to make it day to day, was more than a shock. The fact a pharmaceutical company who (according to the pharmacist working for the company, had decided to simply delete ALL pending refills on the drugs affecred by the law seemed preposterous and even illegal. How could they just decide to change what my doctor had ordered.
    Making it worse I am forced to live half the year in the mountains of a neighboring state because the climate in my hometown is to hit in summer for me to stay. Abiding by the law, and find rules set by my pain management doctor, I only have one doctor to prescribe any kind of pain medication. Since the pain management doctors I am seeing has been working with me for the last 25+ years I chose to stay with him. The changes to the law means that he can only write me a prescription for only one month of pills at a time. although he is able to write two prescriptions and let me turn one over to the pharmacy to be held onto for refill. That still means that I have to go back and see him every two months. So every two months during the summer when I can’t be home and I have to be in a cooler climate I’m 80-year-old mother and I miss make a 580 mile round-trip driving to able come back and get a prescription for pain medication.
    I’ve never liked being on pain medication as I am admittedly a bit of a control freak. I don’t drink, I don’t do illicit drugs and I like to keep my head on my shoulders. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t seem to realize that there are a lot of people in the US like me, who need pain relief and have a legitimate reason for it. My pain comes from diagnoses of Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus and Rheumatoid disorder.
    I will not be able afford to go back-and-forth much longer and had been hoping to relocate to the home that my mother bought in the mountains so that I could be as productive as possible and live as comfortably as possible. This unfortunately probably will never happen because exorbitant cost of medications to treat the illnesses I have are wiping out any savings my husband and I had. I am already relying on my mother to help me be in a “livable” area because my finances were destroyed when I was forced to retire at the age of 37.
    So now I pray that I can get moved before it is too late, and be able to find a doctor who can be as good and work with me on finding alternative pain relief methods as the one I have.
    MS can cause such a vicious cycle when pain is involved. The exacerbations increase the pain and pain can actually spur an exacerbation. With each of these flare ups, I never know what will I be able to do the next day or week and much less the rest of my life.
    Controlling this pain is imperative for me to be able to function. But politicians have a legitimate concern for the misuse and abuse of narcotics in this country are not going to control the problems by subjecting pain patients to excruciating torture. They may be placing a fleeting bandaid in what is already an open wound bleeding out a red stain on America. Those who want the drugs bad enough because of addiction will get the drugs, they will take them from the elderly or disabled like myself by force, coercion or scheming. Addictions is a horrible disease in itself and a disease that needs to be treated. Imprisonment is NOT treatment, and yet the government wonders why recidivism for drug offenders if so high?
    Instead of looking for an answer to the problem, they cause even greater problems which they will never take any responsibility for creating.

    • BBillie Sheads on July 17, 2017 at 10:01 pm

      Excellent points.

  7. Anonymous on April 7, 2015 at 1:49 am

    And by the way – the former patient gets a 90 day supply and here is 30 day? Did they change the law again or did my doctor miss a memo? At least that would save me coming back into the heat that makes the MS worse quite as often as every 2 months.

  8. Dflatter u on April 7, 2015 at 2:14 am

    Sorry Doc. Treat the pain and not the symptoms. Do you really believe 100 million people out of 310 million in the US have chronic pain that requires treatment w/opioids. Such loose treatment is flooding our communities w/dangerous opioid drugs that NEVER were intended to be used for treatment of all manner of pain – even moderate pain.

    • Scott C. on July 12, 2017 at 2:27 pm

      – Yes, yes I do believe 100 million people TRULY NEED opioid pain medication! I am one of them, my mother is too.
      – I have chronic neurological pain from a damaged spinal cord from an auto accident (100% other party’s fault as I was at a stop sign on a perpendicular roadway and they turned directly into my driver side hitting me head on near 50mph) … I was on 75microgram Fentynal Transdermal patches until yesterday when my doctors forced me to a lower dose (50 micrograms) 7 days before a surgery. Now I can’t get out of bed most of the time. They say…”see your pain management Dr.”…what they fail to realize is I have, which is why I getting another spinal surgery on 7/18/17 to get a SCS implanted. Fentynal is the strongest opioid for human use…yes your body gets use to it…but it is there to CONTROL the pain…not relieve it completely. I had a pathetic excuse for a “life” at 75 mu…at 50 mu, I’m in SEVERE & DEBILITATING pain!
      – Forcing people to lower doses is unlawful and infringes on my civil rights and fair medical treatment. It also forces people to seek medical treatment on black markets…opening the flood gates for more deaths because much of the BM is unsafe due to zero regulations. Others will risk the asinine criminal penalties and cultivate their own MMJ to replace the opiates that they have been taking and now can’t. The problem is…the Fed. Gov. views MMJ as a Schedule 1 substance which is again, asinine…but the DEA knows what it’s doing….it’s all about money there. By doing this, they know people will go to these two avenues ad it means more busts for them…more tax dollars to go to their “look at all these ‘abusers’ we are getting now”…and the jails that make a killing off tax payers because they are almost all…privately owned. …GET THE PICTURE YET?
      – Educate yourself before posting….to makes you look ignorant. Also, how do you know what “moderate pain” is to someone else? I guarantee that my version of “moderate pain” would are you cry. My version of severe, debilitating pain will drop you to your knees in an instant. However, I can’t say that another person would have remotely the same pain tolerance that I have. To them…my “moderate pain” may feel like my severely debilitating pain. Everyone is different and it’s the doctors task to understand their patients and fit the with the best medication or rehabilitation program (if available and works for the situation) that will control their symptoms.

      • BBillie Sheads on July 17, 2017 at 10:03 pm

        Right on!

      • Kat valentine on August 23, 2017 at 4:32 pm

        Well said!

    • Jbennett74 on July 14, 2017 at 2:05 pm

      Obviously You Don’t. Perhaps instead of Demonizing an Agonizing Existence that You Don’t Understand, Maybe You Should Be Thankful, and Consider How To Help, as Opposed to Making Insulting Comments that Have Zero Basis or Credibility.

    • Brandy on July 21, 2017 at 9:30 pm

      What a ridiculous comment. Of course there’s that many people if not more suffering from dehabilitating pain. As with anything “BAD” be it pain pills flooding our communities or alcohol etc etc etc….. EDUCATION IS THE KEY!! EDUCATE YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN, ITS THE BEST WAY TO STAVE OFF PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY START.

  9. Rose Beckford on April 7, 2015 at 11:45 pm

    I do understand that there are some people who are legitimately in need of these medications, however as a healthcare provider ive seen many patients that abuse this privelege.

    • C on May 9, 2017 at 8:23 pm

      You sir, are part of the problem.

    • Jbennett74 on July 14, 2017 at 2:09 pm

      You’re Correct. There Are Many Folks Who Abuse Them.
      I’m Just Curious, Who Did Think Should Have to Suffer for That? Do You Think it’s Reasonable that it’s Chronic Pain Patient’s Who Have to Pay for That Reality, or that More Comfortable, Easily Accessible Addiction Treatment Programs Have Been The Primary Focus While We’re Treated Like Disposable Nobody’s?

  10. Desera. Bates on April 9, 2015 at 4:38 am

    OMG, what’s a person to do when they suffer with such excruciating pain

  11. Kerri on April 9, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    Thank you for speaking up for those of us who struggle just to function, never mind to also speak up for themselves.

  12. lisa on April 11, 2015 at 12:14 am

    I hear of people who abuse these medicines all the time. However, I have had crohns and diverticulitis for almost eight years. Not to mention constant kidney infections and stones. I am not suppose to take any NSAIDS due to the IBD. I live in pain in different degrees everyday and honestly sometimes the only thing that gets me out of bed is to take my pain meds. I think it’s becoming a sad sad world if me and others who are seriously sick have to suffer do to other people’s stupidity.

  13. Dawn on April 11, 2015 at 1:05 am

    There are many serious health consequences to people suffering without relief to pain, just as there are many serious health consequences for not treating other health issues. It is no different than treating high blood pressure, diabetes, etc – people shouldn’t suffer in this day and age, and end up with more problems due to lack of care. Punishing the ones who take as prescribed, isn’t going to make the ones who don’t comply suddenly decide to comply. Compassion isn’t dying a slow death, it is drawing it’s last few breaths. People overall have become cold and uncaring, so long as it’s not them suffering, they remain self-righteous. The other danger is, fewer and fewer patients trust their doctors. If they dare say this medicine worked for me before they are a drug seeker, but if they say hey penicillin worked for my strep throat, that’s okay. It’s a sad world, and I’m tired of watching people suffer.
    #GivePainAVoice
    #dontpunishpain

    • Rob on May 10, 2017 at 11:17 am

      Yup, i agree with you 100%, but have you seen the ad’s on the radio and local t.v. promoted bj the “FAT MAN” himself Gov Chris Christy ? Yup every 10 minutes you hear some real negative stuff on the air ! And the funny part about our failed N.J. Gov is he can’t even control his “Food” intake , i mean he weighs 400 freakin pounds in a pool ! But now apparently he is a Doctor now. I can only hope that something Medical happens to the people that treat people who need the med’s ! Then will see what they have to say about it !

  14. Anna on April 11, 2015 at 11:00 am

    I have severe Crohn’s Disease. I quickly moved up the ladder in pain medication. Fentanyl patches and Percocet are the only 2 drugs that help when I am home. I can be in the hospital and be given dilauded every 2-4 hours and come home with no withdrawal. Those who take more thinking they are helping the withdrawal are only making it worse. Every state has their own electronic prescription for narcotics for physicians and pharmacist. Those who are truly needing the pain medication will get the medication. Those who are going from doctor to doctor and ER to ER will be noted in the electronic filing. KY’s is called KASPER. Everything about you is in it, diagnosis all narcotics, each prescriber, Pharmicist, Pharamcy, who dropped it off and who picked it up.

  15. Anonymous on May 28, 2015 at 4:03 am

    I never had pain before a guy ran a red light and hit me in 2002@ 40 yrs old ! I never even took Aspirin before that time! I ended up with a mild traumatic brain injury,10 surgeries, 2 torn rotator cuffs & then adhesive capsulitis! I have Torn meniscus 3 times but surgery once for it! I have had 2 pacemaker surgeries but the 2nd one was a pectoral muscle reconstruction too and I got systemic RSD/CRPS! I had gotten RSD IN MY RIGHT FOOT AFTER MY SURGERY ON THAT FOOT IN 2007! I have Dysaunomia & POTS & I see the only Neuro cardiologist in USA for this issue & he does EPS so he manages my Coumadin too. I had a mild heart attack in 2005 & got Atrial fib and then got on Coumadin(blood thinners). Then I had a CVA in 2006 and they raised my Coumadin levels. I have long QT syndrome & therefore can’t take a lot of different meds. I had a long thoracic nerve injury right side in 1999 with an 8 ” span of nerve damage! It was re injured at the car accident! I have that nerve damage and Chiari I malformation & cervical herniated discs & lumbar herniated & bulging discs. I have a winged scapula, polyneuropathy…. I’m in pain 24/7 but I went to a pain dr 1st 3 yrs following the MVA! Then the pain Dr told me to just continue opiates with my GPbcz I turned down an intrathecal pain pump! I already had a pacemaker & I have an immune deficiency disease so “no” pain pump! So that pain dr psych tested me & came back to say that “I do Not have an addictive personality”!!he told my GP to just continue the meds & call him if questions! I started this in 2002 ! In 2014, I went to my GP only to find out he left and he had over medicated me & many others! Then he’d told me he’d talk to my old pain dr when the laws changed and I’d be fine “all set no problem!” He did none of it! He betrayed me & many others! I went to that pain dr & he refused to see me! He said “he did not want “Dr Bullachs throwbacks”!!! The GP in the same office got stuck with a mess & a huge # of pain patients on pain meds! HE DOESNT WANT THEM EITHER! …or me… But because “I’m motivated” he’s offered to see me get off pain meds! Well since January 2015, I’ve gone down 80% by myself! I found that I was overmedicated & felt an all over weird burn pain during that time! Then as I went down & down I now feel the real pain again & when I take my pain meds, it actually helps and I can feel it helping now! But this is coming to an end because the other dr in the practice is very angry that he “got stuck with all of the (what he calls)”drug seekers”! He made me feel like a criminal or a bad person! He’s even told me to just go to a “12-step detox” hospital program because he’s not helping me after the year is Up! WHAT???? Why would I go to that? I’m not an “addict ” because my body is dependent! I definitely do not need a 12-step program!! I’m so hurt, scared, angry & don’t know where to go or who to go to? Anyone??? Thanks ….I’m down to so little pain help now that I can go out for an hour & then I’m down for rest of the day & evening in my lazy boy chair or my bed! I’m scared with no where to go but to zero because I hate anyone treating me like this! Help?? I live in MI… Any ideas!?

    • C on May 9, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      You MUST find a different doc!

  16. Smith Brandy on July 10, 2015 at 11:34 pm

    My name is Smith Brandy from United State, I have been suffering from (CORONARY ARTERY ) heart disease for the last two years and had constant pain in my heart. During the first year, I had faith in God that I would be healed someday.This disease started reducing my physical abilities and strength, I have been taking treatment from my doctor. Few weeks ago I was searching on the internet if I could get any information concerning the prevention or cure for this disease, on my search I saw a testimony of someone who has been healed from CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE by this Man Dr Agbaka and she also gave the email address of this man and advise we should contact him for any sickness that he would be of help, so I wrote to Dr Agbaka telling him about my (CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE) he told me not to worry that I was going to be cured!! hmm I never believed him, well after all the procedures and remedy given to me by this man, few weeks later I started experiencing changes all over my body and I regained my strength as the Dr assured me that I have been cured, after some time I went to my doctor to confirmed if I have been finally healed behold it was TRUE, So friends my advise is if you have such sickness or any other at all you can email Dr Agbaka on : agbakaherbalhome@gmail.com.You can also contact him on his cell phone: +2349038002051. Sir I am indeed grateful for the help, I will forever recommend you to my friends!!!

    • Debbie Dodge on May 11, 2017 at 12:49 am

      Wow, just a few weeks ago all of this happened? You found him on the internet, made an appointment, “after all the procedures and remedy”, which took some time, then a “few weeks later”, feeling changes, then “after some time” your doctor said you were cured.
      You’ve been pulling someone’s leg for more than two weeks. Just kidding with you.

  17. David Marie on July 11, 2015 at 5:47 am

    I have suffered for 30 years with degenerative disk disease, flat back, post-surgical syndrome and for 5 years now with adult degenerative scoliosis, which will have me living in a wheelchair in 5 years or less if I do not proactively treat my pain. This means using all modalities – from aggressive physical therapy (3x/week, 2.5 hrs per session), interventional injections and pain medications (since a severe turn for the worse after a major injury at the WTC on 9/11/2001. I have been doing all of these for the past 25 years, chronic pain medication just since the injury on 9/11, nearly 14 years ago.

    I don’t want to repeat what has been said but one area I haven’t heard emphasized is the pressure the DEA is putting on pain management specialists who prescribe appropriate and necessary pain medication to those suffering daily excruciating pain such as mine. I’ve read several books and dozens of articles about doctors who have lost their licenses and livelihoods for practicing safe, appropriate medicine by controlling the pain of their patients with severe physiological diseases that won’t get better. While all modalities help, there are so many days when pain medication makes the difference between my getting out of bed, going to work, handling my responsibilities to my family, etc.

    I have contacted the DEA on many occasions to ask if they have considered a certification program under which physicians with patients with documented severe chronic pain-producing diseases can have some kind of certification from the DEA to protect them as consumers and their doctors as prescribers for these serious debilitating diseases. In each case I reached beligerent DEA agents, who say their only mission is to punish doctors and patients who prescribe and use opioid medications long term! I am now at the point of writing my Congressman and Senators and strongly urge all of you to do the same. This is the only process by which laws are passed to right a serious wrong and to solidly distinguish between addicts seeking drug highs and dealers seeking insurance-subsidized prescriptions to sell for as much as $10,000/month “on the street.”

    I have no doubt that overprescription of these meds to the wrong people is causing a serious epidemic of addiction and overdoses that can cause deaths, but long term pain patients do indeed develop a high tolerance to these medications and the chances of them overdosing is exceedingly low. To fail to treat the pain resulting from the numerous medical conditions that cause debilitating pain daily is no different than failing to treat patients for their diabetes or heart disease. It creates a life not worth living and increasingly suicidal thoughts and behaviors for those with no where to turn to have our pain controlled well enough for us to have a semblance of a normal life and- quite literally – to be able to get out of bed in the morning rather than writing in pain all day.

    I also agree that physicians need a way to distinguish between those with acute pain caused by a fall or even a spine related flare up that will heal and go away and those like mine that will never get better, are well documented by imaging studies of my spine and by the opinions of neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. The former group clearly benefits from a very short course of opoioid medicine to get them past the worst of the injury and/or surgical pain, but then should be quickly taken off these potentially additicting meds. But study after study has proven that the risk of addiction – as opposed to dependence – for “true” and severe chronic pain is very small and can and should be monitored and therefore controlled.

    The time has come to appeal to our legislators to help with this national scurge of patients and doctors with legitimate and sever needs for these medications. To all of those who can do your part – I will detail in a separate piece how to find the correct address to email your congressmen and women about this “plague” on their consituences and the incredibly powerful lobbies fighting to keep physicians from doing their jobs in daily [real] fear of losing their licenses and livelihoods.

    As with all epidemics involving addiction and the practice of diverting prescribed medications to the street dealer community, due diligence of the patients’ behavior and changes in their conditions – along with monitoring their blood/urine levels to insure they are taking the prescribed medications properly. I have seen doctors do this well and those are the few remaining practices left that will still prescribe this kind of medication.

    Yours very sincerely,
    Jeff Bellin

    • C on May 9, 2017 at 8:37 pm

      I’m interested in your info!

  18. Dawn B on July 23, 2015 at 2:36 am

    I went to my GP today and he nastily informed me that he wasn’t prescribing my pain meds anymore and if I wanted to find another dr go ahead and he was demeaning about my applying for disability. I was like are u for real???

  19. Meg on August 19, 2015 at 3:41 am

    I’m 25 years old and I’ve had back pain for almost 8 years now.. Started when I was in gymnastics as a child. It barely hurt and I had a GREAT pain tolerance until I had my first child at 100 pounds.. I had to have an epidural. Shortly after I had 2 pretty bad accidents. I’ve also had 2 more csections since. I have spent the last 4 yrs trying to figure out what was wrong with me and why I was hurting so bad.. Well July last year it got so bad I started laying in bed all day. I literally hurt so bad I couldn’t get myself up till around lunch. FINALLY I saw a back specialist. At 25 YRS old I have lumbar degenerative disc disease. A herniated disc and. Bulging disc. And weird enough- I have a EXTRA bone on the lower left side of my back that pushes against my pelvic bone constantly.

    I’ve tried all kinds of anti inflammatory meds. Meloxicam. Ibuprofen. I even went to my 1st pain clinic about 5 mos ago and I’ve had a bunch of injections in my back.. Never worked. I have 3 kids one of whom is a year old and I can barely get out of bed yet alone pick my own son up…

    But guess what? No one wants to give meds to the 25 yr old. I get it. I’m young and most people my age abuse them or sell them. But HELLO look at my records. Drug test me idc just stop putting me in the same category as a bunch of pill popping junkies.

    You know what I want? I want to be able to hold my1 yr old son for longer than 10mins. I want to be out of bed before noon. I’ve been fighting this for so long I literally got diagnosed with severe depression last Friday. Normal levels on the test are 5 and below.. I scored a 23.

    And guess when my depression started? I don’t wAnt to sell them or abuse them. I just want to feel normal again until i can figure out a long term solution.

    I hate being young.. All doctors immediately judge and assume I’m just a junkie looking for a fix… I’m Almost tired of fighting this fight… When does it end?

  20. Paul Harvey on September 2, 2015 at 5:11 am

    I have Arachnoiditis, an iatrogenic condition most likely caused by an Epidural Steroid Injection given to me by a pain management practitioner to treat post operative spinal surgery ….. I do not feel that all the risks of ESIs were properly explained to me, nor was I informed that ESIs were NOT certified as a proper treatment as they are an “off label” use for the condition that I was being treated for (albeit one that is highly lucrative in Pain Mgmnt Practices !) . Worse than this, no one in the medical community told me , later, when I was diagnosed with Arachnoiditis, that this condition was quite likely caused by the ESIs, and I was sent BACK to pain mgmnt as this condition has no cure and the chronic, constant, severe, neuropathic pain that I now suffer with can only be treated by prescription pain medication….Pain mgmnt Doctors are under INTENSE pressure to under-prescribe narcotic pain medication by the FDA and DEA and drug testing is an (understandably) mandated part of a patients agreement to be prescribed these medications. However, I have been told of abnormalities three times in the 7 plus years of almost monthly drug testing and was told by one Doctor that I would be dropped as a patient if I tested positive again …. I could go into greater detail,but it would suffice to say that I have never violated my opiod contract as the possibility of being unable to obtain Pain Management Treatment for me would represent the end of any chance of continuing to have a life, remotely, worth living…. The frustration that I read about in countless websites devoted to people with chronic pain conditions in regards to this issue makes it apparent that the medical community, in cow-towing to pressure from the Federal Government, has turned it’s back on patients with chronic pain that need these medications to have ANY quality of life whatsoever…… I end this comment with the questions ” Where is the humanity ? What has become of the Hippocratic Oath ? Why are we letting the tail wag the dog ?”

  21. Annie Miller on September 3, 2015 at 5:19 am

    I am a chronic pain patient. I have 3 fairly rare connective tissue disorders. Firstly, doctors get roughly a paragraph about them in med school, and a lot of doctors are of the opinion that they are in no way painful. My muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels and skin are involved. I have faulty collagen, which is the glue they that holds us together.tendons and ligaments spontaneously rupture, as do blood vessels. Joints, ribs, fingers, hips etc dislocate or sublux frequently. Incisions don’t hold, and come apart. This disorder is very painful. Now to make things even more interesting. For a great many of us, drugs like Novacaine, Lidocaine, etc, are completely ineffective. But it is not just locals. Narcotics are also not very effective on us. I have been on a number of different meds, in amounts high enough to kill an elephant and the don’t touch me. I do not abuse my prescriptions. I have no problem with the drug tests and contracts. But in all honesty, I am prescribed Norco 10mg four times a day as needed. While I don’t go over the allotted four, I frequently take all four at once. And I can’t tell I have taken anything. I get minimal relief and am completely alert and oriented. And in just as much pain. But knowing there are a lot of abusers out there, there is no chance I will EVER come close to pain relief. I am also not addicted. I can go without pain meds with no problem or withdrawl. And I am realistic. I don’t expect to ever be pain free. I just need to be able to function. But because I do not have adequate pain relief, I have gone from working 60 hours a week, being a very social person, to being very reclusive. I leave my house only to go to the doctor and to church. In fact, I barely leave my room. Because the pain of even going out to eat is not worth trying to get through it. My friends and family don’t get it. My doctors don’t get it. Only my fellow EDS sufferers understand. And in the meantime it is more and more difficult to get the medical community to understand our needs and requirements for pain relieve. I think if these lawmakers could spend just one hour in a chronic pain patient’s shoes, they would be singing a different tune. Actually, I doubt people without EDS COULD spend an hour in our shoes. Chronic pain is real. And we deserve to be taken seriously and treated for our pain. I am pretty sure that the vast majority of us are happy to be drug tested and sign contracts In order to be treated fairly

  22. Janifer Smith on September 9, 2015 at 11:59 am

    I read your blog and information on your blog is helpful for me. Thanks for providing such good information about chronic pain management clinics.

  23. Kurtymac on September 10, 2015 at 12:14 am

    I am a Medical Service’s Officer in the Army and studying to be a doctor in a premedical program. I am also in the middle of being discharged from the Army due to debilitating pain that is caused by a spinal cord tumor inside (inter-dural) of my spine that is wedged in-between my nerve rootlets causing spinal cord compression and nerve displacement. I cant get any pain relief, today at pain management I had acupuncture, needles shoved into my ears. Really for spinal cord tumor pain? I have seen a few nuero-surgeons, all of them believe its too risky to do surgery. What am I suppose to do, I cant get the necessary medication to treat my pain and I cant find a doctor to do surgery? My question is what does the DEA and physicians expect me to do? I use to be extremely physically fit, obviously that is not the case anymore. I can even pin-point the exact area where the pain is stemming from. I can die for my country, but when it comes to treating my serious health condition, my country is failing me because a few low lives mess it up for everybody. Those low lives will get the medication regardless, most will be caught sooner or later, an addicts luck normally runs out. I’m going to get off my soap box now…

  24. Calligaro7 on September 15, 2015 at 1:39 am

    My dr can only prescribe me 2 Norfolk,s a day due to the clamp down. I don’t argue cause it will do me no good. Her hands are tied. So I smile a,d leave the office. What can I do. I am left living in chronic pain with very little pain relief. I understand why people commit suicide. When your in a great deal of pain and can’t live a productive life your left feeling very depressed. You can resume hobbies or even have fun on what should be a vacation. I understand there is abuse in this world but why should us chronic pain patients be punished along with the criminals. If it wasn’t for the pills I would suffer so incredibly bad. As of right now I suffer enough. Be nice to have at least a 95 percent pain free life but instead I’m lucky to have 20 percent of my day pain free. When I go to the doctors I always feel like a criminal. It’s not my doctors fault at all. She has her job to worry about too. There is no since her telling her she is not giving me enough or I’m not getting enough pain relief because the conversation is always the same. I’m told how Obama has cracked down and how things are only going to get worse. So without argument I leave with my prescription and in my head I’m saying a big F U to Obama and a prayer that karma will bite his ass and he can live in agony as I do. If my pain gets worse I do t know how long it will be before I need to be put on antidepressants and than how soon after I will be pulling the trigger if a gun. No wonder some chronic pain people buy meds and break the law. There forced to become criminals by the government who claim their not making criminals. BS I say. At 44 I ride on a scooter next to my 6 year old a,d my 9 year old cause the pain is so bad that walking is a no go. Really wish there was a way we all could fight back and make the government open their eyes but let’s face it, the government loves money and not people!

    • RickyDroofer on August 10, 2017 at 3:31 am

      Need 30 people to file a class action law suit but I can’t find a firm to take the case finding the people is the easy part God Bless

  25. Calligaro7 on September 15, 2015 at 1:40 am

    That’s Norco’s. Bare with my typos. Wrote it on an ipad

  26. Hadley Taylor on September 16, 2015 at 8:57 am

    I really like this post. I agree that the statement should be made in this post about round rock back pain management doctors., Thanks for providing such a great information.

  27. Allison on September 16, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    I have been a chronic pain patient for twenty years. Most of the time I am able to control my pain without narcotics, but there are times when having an acute flare up I have to rely on narcotics because there is nothing else out there. However, several months ago I began treatment for cancer. This new DEA crackdown has made my ability to treat my cancer related pain extremely hard. Even my oncologist is afraid to prescribe narcotics to his patients. He’s not worried about abuse or addiction issues, he’s worried about the DEA. So, not only do chronic pain patients going without treatment, so are cancer patients.

    • Maria maysonet on January 3, 2018 at 1:26 pm

      My understanding from an er visit , was that cancer patients were the only ones who can have pain meds such as morphine and any narcs all other patients with pain get just regular Tylenol or ibuprofen.

  28. Rebecca on September 16, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    I am constantly in pain and have been taking hydrocodone which doesnt work as well now but i know its all im going to get. The government has no right denying me the right to live semi pain free. Believe me i know the abuse because my son died from an overdose but he didnt get the narcotics from me he bought them on the street. Is this what im going to have to do? I dont know but i cant function without some relief

    • Doris on July 24, 2017 at 9:32 am

      Sadly, I have found that the Dr. no longer can care about the patient but only his license not being taken away. We must make mention that in the latest survey of opioids that caused overdose, 3/4 of them were from illegal heroin and NOT pain medication. Their excuse that pain medication leads to heroin use is probably valid. When a chronic sufferer can find help no where, what option do they have?

  29. Anonymous on September 20, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    Pain Patients Have No Rights

    Since 2013, my office has had to endure multiple raids and investigations with the sole purpose of trying to identifying me as a diverter of Opioid Rx as well as whether the patients I treat “deserve” their pain medication or are themselves fraudulent and diverting their meds Rx.

    The end result is that neither patients who suffer from painful conditions nor the doctors trying to alleviate their painful condition(s) have Constitutional rights of privacy.
    Not only is the Federal Government looking at your medical records, so are the State “Fraud” units of Medicaid, Controlled Substances, and even the Department of Health and Human Resources.

    Never before have I, as well as the patients treated in my clinic felt so “helpless”, so “violated” simply because we treat a population of patients diagnosed with painful conditions requiring pain medication.

    No other population of patients including those with heart conditions, hypertension, lung conditions, diabetes, goes thru this type of scrutiny and discrimination. These other groups may be “investigated” is the Insurance Company feels that the medical provider is defrauding them with too many bills, etc. These providers and patients however will never deal with DEA and FBI agents’ going to their homes to “interview” them about their medical treatments.

    Pain, unfortunately has been demonized and so has any American citizen who unfortunately suffers from a painful condition. Both Federal and State Government has taken it upon themselves to “cross the line” into the privacy of our medical records and no one seems to care or be aware of this major breech in our Freedom. Pain patient and the health care providers have been made to feel that they have done something wrong even thru no fault of themselves. Patient’s can’t help it if they had a bad surgical outcome, motor vehicle accident, work related injury, or assaulted in the past. They have a big target on their back as soon as they receive a Controlled Substance.

    The Controlled Substance act of 1970 was devised to control and inventory Opioids in this country, not used to collect data on patients so that they could be interrogated and meant to feel intimidated!

    West Virginia is #1 in Heroin and Opioid deaths in the entire country. You can’t blame physicians for Heroin as they do not Rx that substance and Heroin is supposed to be under the vigilant eye of the DEA. Addiction and Chronic Pain are 2 very different diseases!

    Laws passed by W.V. legislature over the past couple of years have severely restricted physicians, and PA’s and NP’s can’t Rx yet West Virginia is still #1. This is a cultural problem, not a problem of law abiding physicians and patients who are trying to improve function and quality of life.

    Sincerely
    Roland F. Chalifoux Jr.,DO

    • Jill Schoenfeld White on May 13, 2017 at 4:54 am

      Thank you for expressing so clearly and eloquently that patients with excruciating daily pain are not in the same category as drug seeking addicts but instead are the victims of “The War on Drugs”. The FDA and DEA are now controlled by politicians, and not by scientific based medical research evidence.

  30. Debra JT on September 24, 2015 at 5:13 am

    Background: I worked for orthopedics for many years, and in the mid 80’d Vicodin came on the scene and was the wonder drug. The doctors didn’t even lock them up. The Pharm reps showed up daily with their vast supplies. I had shoulder surgery by these doctors, took Vicodin for the healing, then never took it again. EVEN though it was NOT locked up, I didn’t take the pills. But ultimately the drug reps pushed these drugs for many years and doctors are busy, so, in pain, take this.

    Many years later (25); I have been misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia:. Now I know why for the past 6-8 years I’ve had so much trouble with body pain. During this time my GP gave me Vicodians 5/500. I always got the Watson brand, which was the best. My regular pharmacy, CVS got their drugs from India and they didn’t work…. Then the DEA got in a snuff about Tylenol in Vicodin, and they lowered the dosage and took Vicodin off the generic list (Bastards!) and forced all patients taking Vics to Norco. Meantime you can buy 500 mg of Tylenol over the counter.

    Suddenly last summer I started to get really sick with this pain. So bad, I’d be up all night crying. I was eventually diagnosed with Fibro.

    Now back to Norco… Norco did nothing for my pain. Oh, did I argue this point with my GP but he flat out refused to believe me. I told him I was reading all over the Internet about this same issue. Others found generic Norco to be nothing but an aspirin. I was bumped up to Percocets. The pharmacy I got them from (not Walgreens because they’d started questioning my Vicodin refills), never had an issue with me, but one day, they said, “sorry” we can fill these for you anymore, and they gave some reason about losing money. Really? So I went to CVS, my regular pharmacy for all other medications (for 25 years). Here came the problem. My Fibro is severe. I’m having a difficult time getting the pain under control. Why didn’t I get this disease when the Reps were bringing it in by the bag fulls? No I get it when it’s now a crime to treat a sick person! I’ve had to refill early the past few months (still under the dosage not to cause liver problems and I get liver panels regularly). Meantime, I go to a rheumatologist who doesn’t believe in pain meds, and she puts me on Cymbalta. It worked for 6 weeks, and now it doesn’t, sweat like a pig if I blink my eyes too fast (dry my hair ten times a day and 3 showers), can’t sleep a wink, gained 20 pounds in a month, to match the pig sweat, can’t remember anything longer than 5 mins ago, and can’t pee–but HEY it’s not pain medication!!!! Cymbalta is a dangerous drug but you can buy it easily. AND it’s REALLY hard to get OFF OF! OMG the brain zaps, muscle pain, DEATH…but it’s LEGAL. Anyways, I got my GP to give me Percocets which aren’t that great either, and I have to take 9 a day or I can’t get out of bed, and I get the liver panels. NOW CVS is in a snit about this much Percocets. They put me in the river a few weekends ago (Labor day weekend). I had to go to urgent care, and thank GOD my doctor was working and told him they refused to refill it early EVEN though it was a NEW script and legal. SO he gave me 35 mil of Oxi. LOL Let’s laugh together, come on… LOL. I take it to same CVS… HELL NO NOT EVEN! NOW THEY NEW I WAS A DRUG ADDICT SHOPPING FOR DRUGS!!! BUT IT WAS THE SAME DOCTOR. I explained they wouldn’t give me my perc’s so he wrote it for Oxy. By now I’m on my cane, can hardly walk. I go to another CVS but they got the “call” and refused me. I crawled into a Walgreens crying, and handed them the script and said…PLEASE!!!! She said she didn’t have them, but she had a lower dose of less amount. Would I take them? YES!!! I would take them. I was about to kill myself. Not kidding. I saw no reason to live. I didn’t like the Oxy, but they got me through until CVS would refill. BUT, when I came with the same script they were NOT friendly, all eyed each other. I went back to my doctors and he said I should maybe see a pain guy. WELL this PAIN guy wants me on a pump! A PUMP! MY GOD. I don’t know what I’m going to do. The DEA needed to keep their jobs because pot became legal. Now they’re after the seniors ME!!! This is so wrong. Yes there are over doses. And liver problems. BUT MY GOD CVS sells vats of liquor. I asked the pharmacist who was concerned about my liver and life if she was concerned about the vodka they sell to people obviously drunk and driving back home to kill innocent children! HELLO Doesn’t anyone see that the same pharmacies denying pain meds are selling booze to the drunks. MORE deaths are caused by liquor than drugs, and the druggie only kills themselves not a family coming home from church. Someone hear us. SOMEONE! I can’t live without pain meds. I really won’t make it.

  31. Rhonda on September 24, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    They can give out free needles to heroin addicts so they can go and shoot up . Diabetics cannot even afford the needles they need for there insulin does this make sense. iIcannot believe that people with chronic pain has to go thru all of this to try to find pain medication. My husband has chronic back pain has had it for years, he had a doctor that finally got him on the right pain medicine, it took about 6 years for this doctor to find the right medications for him. his doctor is no longer practicing so now he has to go to pain management and they will not give him anything very strong 10mg percocet 4 times a day every 4 hours what do you do the rest of the 12 hours, he does not sleep his quality of life has gone down, he was a very active person and now he cannot do anything but be in pain every day. This also affects the family to it is very stressful for everybody, it is terrible that you have to count your pills everyday to make sure you have enough, if you don’t you don’t take any for that day. Nobody should have to live in pain when there is medications out there to help. Look at these patients medical history that can tell you a lot but nobody wants to listen anymore, it is a money game.

  32. Amazon Warrior on September 27, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    I’ve been debating whether to add a comment about my own experience, here goes. I’m a former critical care nurse as well as a defense lawyer. I’ve had serious spinal problems all of my life. I had to give up my career, which is my personal heartbreak. My life was about serving people, especially those in need. Yes, I have the objective medical tests to document my disability. That’s not an issue. Recently I developed a spinal curvature which causes misery beyond description. (I always had really good posture, this yet another depressing development).

    I’d tried every treatment available: from the conservative to the invasive. (Surgery was a disaster. They discovered my vertebrae were disintegrating). NSAIDs caused a bleed that gave me a nice zipper. I was transfused at a time when the blood supply was tainted; on top of everything else I had to be AIDS tested! Well, the bright side was that I was HIV neg! YAY!

    After the surgical disappointment, I knew I wasn’t going to see a neurosurgeon forever, so I requested referral to Pain Management. They put me on long acting and short acting morphine which helped quite a bit, but I started cutting back on the short acting morphine on my own. I spoke to my pharmacist, who recommended I ask for a pain medication patch.

    The Pain Management provider told me the patches would fall off in the shower, and weren’t appropriate for someone young and active. When I retired, I went from Blue Cross to Medicare/Medicaid, that’s when so much changed. I was turfed from the Anesthesiologist to a Nurse Practitioner, which should have been great. It wasn’t. I started being treated like persona non grata. They look at poor patients very differently! I was suddenly treated like a criminal.

    Long story short, fortunately, my PCP took over. He always treated everyone with the greatest respect. He was great, I was stable.

    After a serious fracture requiring surgery, I was referred to a new pain group. They dc’d the long acting morphine and put me on the Fetanyl patch. YAY! Because my pain level was no longer bouncing up and down like a rubber ball, I was much more controlled and stable. YAY! I pretty much cut out my short acting morphine, I didn’t like the side effects. I didn’t even think about not using it. But – it didn’t show up in my urine, so they automatically thought I was diverting it. I explained to my prescriber, a Nurse Practitioner (who I really liked), that the side effects were too annoying. I still had the unfilled prescriptions, which I gave back to her.

    All was well, until the cold weather hit, and breakthrough became an issue once again. Dealing with Medicare/Medicaid, my NP was very limited in what she could prescribe. We ended settling with methadone. I assumed I could take it only as needed, not around the clock. Now, I should mention that the hysteria over opioids was quietly heating up on the state and national level. My prescriber was being pressured to cut her patients off (or way down). I believe in the old adage: “If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it.” But the State legislature had better ideas. They were planning to set a maximum level for opioids. Yes, that’s right. An arbitrary max dose level, regardless of what works for the patient.

    My prescriber’s vacation rolled around. I came in for my regular (every 28 day) visit and she’d been replaced! (No notice given to any of her patients!). Even much of the staff had been replaced!

    Before the new prescriber met me, she’d decided she was going to cut me down. She gave me an ultimatum: eliminate the breakthrough meds or eliminate the patch. Obviously, I didn’t care about the breakthrough meds. She wanted to wean me off, but since i didn’t take them all the time, no weaning was required.

    Every one of her patients was required to come in and provide a urine sample. Plus, they required us to come in every three weeks rather than every 28 days. I think they were trying to “catch” people since they were requiring urines at every visit… Thinking, I suppose, that people assumed they would not be required to provide two urine samples in a row. Thus, the second consecutive sample would contain the damning proof. I never cheat, so I don’t care. My problem is that I have a terrible time giving them a sample. I’m stuck for hours drinking water. After 20 cups (no exaggeration), I finally squeezed out just enough. Then, once I’m home, I’m stuck running to the bathroom all day, and yes, all night.

    Since I no longer can afford my own car, being required to come in every three weeks is a hardship. (I live in a very rural area and everything is at least 45 minutes away). I had not filled the most recent prescription for breakthrough. However, I do have one problem. I wake up almost every night with serious back pain. (Most likely from the scoliosis). Bone pain prevents me from lying on my side, and my cervical fusion means I can’t sleep on my stomach.

    I decided to bring up the occasional breakthrough pain in my next appt. I should not have any breakthrough pain with my patch, according to my new prescriber. I’m in a precarious situation. I can’t push it. If I tell her I still have breakthrough pain, she will decide the patch doesn’t work and take it away. (Her attitude is: it’s not worth prescribing if it’s not working… Which makes sense). But it does work, for the most part. The patch doesn’t take away ALL pain, it does take a lot of it. Does that mean I have NO pain? Absolutely not. I’m not a good liar – but I’d better develop that skill quick. ?

    Now, don’t get me wrong. My new prescriber isn’t cruel or unfeeling. I don’t even know her yet. She’s just young. And conservative. So…
    She went through the list of things I’ve already tried. Lyrica? I was so stoned I was literally walking into walls. Amitriptyline? Didn’t make any difference. I got myself on Cymbalta, which worked a heck of a lot better. Diclofenac? Is another a GI bleed preferable, REALLY?

    So, my response was: Let’s just hold off and see what happens. She thought about it and came up with another idea. She wrote for something that technically isn’t for pain, but it might help me to get back to sleep.
    I was optimistic. Maybe this could work. You never know! On our way to the pharmacy, I had this bad feeling. Wait a minute, I thought. This was far too easy. I was right. I got to the pharmacy and guess what? The insurance company kicked it back. The generic would have cost me nearly $750 for a 30 day supply. That’s more than I get from Social Security Disability a month, so that’s a non starter. We have to wait to see if we can appeal it. In the meantime, I’m stuck with breakthrough pain. AGAIN. (And let me add, the pharmacy itself is great. They are the most supportive and caring people ever).

    Here’s the thing. Up until recently, I’ve really didn’t think about not being supported if my pain got out of control. I do now. My pain isn’t in my head, I know that. I’ve got the documentation to reassure myself of that. I’m don’t know why they replaced my long term provider/Nurse Practitioner. I was told they were “weeding out the people” who didn’t belong there. I’m told that some physicians, even pain management professionals, assume that most chronic pain patients are just drug seekers.

    Thanks to this illness, I’ve lost everything. My life’s work meant so much. Losing my career meant losing my path, my support system and my friends. I have no family. What have I to look forward to? Pain every day of my life? I can see why some see suicide as a viable option since it’s been looking better & better to me. Taking away that patch will leave me without options. A long time ago, I accepted that I’d have to put up with the down side of opiates if my life was to have any meaning whatsoever. Now I’m faced with a life with no purpose but suffering. That’s not living, it’s existing.

  33. Mary on September 27, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    FOLLOW THE MONEY!

    I’m convinced this war on pain patients is all about money. Opioids are not patentable and very inexpensive. My opioid medications were $50 a month but every alternative pain medication offered to me cost over $500 per month and isn’t even effective. Add costs of drug screening and requirement to see doctor monthly, that’s another $400 per month. I went from paying less than $100 per month the beginning of this year (splitting doctor’s visit cost every 90 days 3 ways) to paying nearly $1,000 a month. I’m paying 10 times as much for 1/10th the relief and spiraling down into abject misery and poverty.

    IMHO big pharma is behind this whole war on opioids and pain patients. They want to demonize opioids because they can’t patent them to make big money and then take advantage of suffering patients by forcing them to take and pay for their expensive drugs and drug screens. And doctors go along with it because it’s making them money too. I have a good friend that is a drug rep and doctors are paid kickbacks for prescribing these expensive patented drugs to us.

    As far as the DEA and the US Government, if they were so worried about lives being lost to substances, why don’t they go after alcohol and tobacco manufacturers? Alcohol and tobacco causes far more misery and death than all other controlled substances combined! I can’t smoke cannabis that will never kill me or get enough pain meds to go fishing with my husband but I can get all the alcohol and tobacco I want just about anywhere I want??? Is it only me that sees the hypocrisy in these policies?

    How can US policy on substances claim any credibility as long as this type of hypocrisy exist?

    Besides, I’m a consenting adult, I don’t need the government and/or DEA telling me what I can and can not put in my body!!!

    America is now fully under the control of wealthy corporations and all laws are past to benefit these corporations. They have infiltrated and manipulate every aspect of our government to suit themselves. If you don’t believe that just FOLLOW THE MONEY!

    • Christina on May 12, 2017 at 10:18 am

      Perfectly said!

      • Brent mcbride on August 1, 2017 at 5:53 pm

        Im 28 was born with vitamin d resistant rickets which now that im 28 years old I need my hips and knees need to be replaced and my femurs are bent outward can’t have surgery to fix issue because vitamin d helps bones heal so wow. been in chronic pain my whole life and I have been told ever since the D.E.A put these limits on meds I have been cussed out by doctors told im a junkie and malingerer and no pain medicine for you take tylenol ive been told Hahaha to that I exhausted that when I was a teenager. And with my genetic vitamin d deficiency there are very few pain medicines I can take. But I get told rickets is extinct people don’t get that anymore your lien and all of this ever since the D.E.A started their nonsense. My question is you have to have a license to drive to conceal carry, to practice medicine, to be pretty much anything nowadays, so why not give us chronic pain Patients a license to get the medication they need or heck id even be happy with a weekly visit to pharmacy to pick up my next weeks medication the D.E.A is just ignorant and they are justtrying to scare people into not taking them or prescribing because pharmacuetical companies are wealthier than our own government that’s all it is but think about it a LICENSE idiots

  34. Chuck on October 7, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    Wow, there’s a lot of drug addicts on here. Been on Vicodin for 10-15 years? Really? And you say you’re not addicted? Yeah, ok….. keep telling yourself that. I know there’s some people that truly need this medication because they’re truly in pain, but a good chunk of you are just being babies because you have a back ache.

    • Christina on May 12, 2017 at 10:32 am

      Chuck, quite frankly you’re the one who sounds ignorant. no one denies that long term use can in some cases, depending on dosage & quantity taken can possibly cause dependence. Just like getting dependent on caffeine or sugar or a plethora of other medications that have nothing to do with treating pain. Addiction is completely different. I see you can type so look it up before the insensitive judgmental comments. FYI I personally don’t have back issues that cause my pain, but your comment was an insult to all who do. If there’s right in this world people like you will wake up with this ” back ache” & eat your words. You or a loved one could be in an accident, get sick, get chronic long term pain. Maybe that’ll change your tune. Until then try to have some human decency & empathy.

    • Mark on July 20, 2017 at 9:37 am

      I wish you one compressed nerve in you back or neck. Then we can see who the baby is.
      I hope and pray for you to have pain so you can’t think or see straight. Then hope you are never able to get pain meds that work for you. You are a cruel person. I wish you the worst. Good bye

  35. Joe Serianz on October 9, 2015 at 2:15 am

    The last time I went to my doctor for lower back pain he would not prescribe Vicodin again. I then researched for products that were natural and worked well for inflammation and found two that brought inflammation down and helped with pain without any side effects. They are Boswellia and Turmeric Curcumin. You can read many customer reviews for these supplements on Amazon and IHerb.com. If this post helps any of you please share this information. I wish the best for you all.

  36. Anonymous on October 19, 2015 at 9:09 pm

    I am waiting to see if a pain management place will accept me. I have interstitial cystitis. It is a very painful disease of the bladder where there is no cure. After reading all of these posts I’m just so mad at our government. I would like for some of these people that have made these horrible decisions for us in severe pain to just try to walk in our shoes for maybe a year or two! In my case, try excruciating teeth grinding pain up at all hours of the night and day unrested just trying to live another day-for what? Another day of the same? Watched Dr Oz today and he always shows all of these foods I can’t eat because they put my bladder further on FIRE and today was about his big march in D. C. against opoids and addiction. He’s now one of the ones hurting those of us in chronic pain. I swear, I’m having real doubts about my future anymore with any relief. I’m not an addict and only take medicine to try to get some relief. Nothing ever takes all of my pain away so far. I’m so afraid no ones ever going to be able to help me. It can be so depressing all of this PAIN!

  37. Mike keaton on October 23, 2015 at 5:02 am

    STUPID STUPID PEOPLE EVERYKWHERE.. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. IM SO TIRED OF THIS. THE GOVERNMENT, DEA,CDC, PROP THE GREEDY INSURANCE COMPANIED AND THE DOCTORS THAT ARE GETTING PAID TO SUPPORT THIS TORTURE ALONG WITH ALL THE IDIOTS THAT THINK THEY ARE HELPING BY TAKING AWAY THE ONLY MEDICATION THAT HELP US LIVE A LIFE OUT OF OUR BEDS WITH REDUCED PAIN.
    GO TO HELL. I WISH UPON YOU YOUR PARENTS AND YOUR CHILDREN TO LIVE WITH THE SAME PAIN WE DO. I WISH THEY ARE FOCED TO SUFFER, IF THESE MEDICINES DIDNT WORK I SURE AS HELL WOULDNT TAKE THEM.
    WITH THAT SAID. WE ARE LIKE PEOPLE STRANDED IN THE OCEAN HANGING ONTO A LIFE RAFT AND YOU ALL JUST WANT TO TAKE IT AWAY. POP IT SO WE ALL DROWN. WELL I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FORGIVING, SWEET KIND. MAN.ITS OVER. AGAIN FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WISH PAIN UPON ME MY FAMILY AND THOSE THAT SUFFER AS I DO. I WISH YOU EXCRUCIATING PAIN, I HOPE YOU FEEL WHAT WE DO AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOUR PAIN CAN GO AWAY BUT TOUGH SH#T.

    • Christina on May 12, 2017 at 10:38 am

      Mike Keston, Perfectly said. Only inhumane people with no empathy judge us. I am with you that they or their loved ones experience what we suffer through. Bet their minds would change quickly.

  38. Hope on October 30, 2015 at 3:45 am

    I know for a fact that I would take my own life if not for my pain meds. I have several painful conditions and without my pain meds I would not be able to function. They allow me to live a somewhat normal life. Without them I could not get out of bed. I have been on them for many years and am not addicted. I am very careful to take them only when the pain is severe and usually only 1 or 2 a day. I am addicted to the relief from the pain. Doesn’t take it away but makes it less severe and more manageable. I hate that these abusers have made it so difficult for those of us that need it. I would like to be able to take more of these a day. Like every 4 to 6 hours like the prescription says but I’m so afraid if I start doing that I would be looked at like an abuser so I try to be very careful and not take them. Which means more pain but I am afraid of not having them at all. These people that say we don’t need them obviously have never had constant severe pain.

  39. Fred on November 3, 2015 at 6:07 pm

    Here is what I’d like to know…How many people in chronic pain have FAITHFULLY tried the many alternative pain management therapies that have shown to be helpful in mitigating pain? And how many people in chronic pain can HONESTLY say that they have done EVERTHING possible to mitigate their pain trying alternative pain modalities, other than with opioids?

    I am a 63 yr old male…I am in severe pain every day and have been for the past 6 years. Prior, I have had intermittent severe pain for over 15 years. I have been racked with osteoarthritis throughout my body, have intercostal neuralgia, have had both hips replaced, and have had numerous cervical and lumbar pathologies during those 15 years. But for the past 6 years things have certainly changed. My cervical stenosis has deteriorated to a severe level…my MRIs suggest 3 discs should be removed and 4 vertebra fused…my cervical spondylosis is so degenerative my neck sounds like a bunch of marbles in a blender when I move it…and I have several osteophytes that impinge directly on the thecal cord. I have also developed some weird numbing experience that makes my entire upper body go limp and virtually immovable for several minutes at a time, about 12 times a month. My specialists cannot figure that one out. So my MRIs suck and the pain is amazing…BUT- I don’t need surgery because my functionality is good and I don’t take opioids every day or in high amounts…WHY? Because I exercise every day; I do my PT stretches every day; I do yoga every day; and I meditate, do visualizations, and think positively every day. When my pain became severe and constant I was determined to do everything I could to manage it other than by taking opioids all the time.

    I am prescribed 10mg oxycodone. I receive 60 tabs every 6 weeks but I do not take them every day. When I do take them, which is every other day or two days, I take no more than 3 a day. Could I reduce my pain more if I did take them every day and multiple times a day, or if I increased the dosage (my specialist is willing)? Yep, sure could, but I won’t. Why? Because if I did I would be entering a world where I know opioids would become a necessity probably for the rest of my life. I know I would be dealing with tolerance…more than likely dependence…and certainly the fogginess that being on opioids can produce.

    It took months before the alternative therapies to pain started working…I hurt doing them, I hurt right afterwards…but after several months they really started to work…years later, to this day, they still hurt when I do them…but they have mitigated my pain in the long run. I also stopped smoking and became much more aware of my dietary habits. The alternative practices I employ really help and on the days I don’t take the oxycodone I take Meloxicam. Am I still in pain? Yep…but I am able to reduce it enough to where my life goes on pretty well. I have found that these alternative practices had to become part of who I am…I had to do them every day. They are time consuming and not by any means easy to do…but I have learned how to make them happen. AND THAT IS THE KEY…I had to stay with them…every day. After the first month it would have been easy to give up…the second month you’re still not convinced…but they do work. And believe me I was doing a whole bunch of talking to myself…”This is crazy”, “This exercising ain’t gonna work”, “How many PT exercises do I have to do?”, “I should just take the pills”, “This meditation is BS”, etc. etc. etc. And quitting smoking wasn’t the easiest thing obviously…but smokers have more pain. Eating right and keeping as much weight off as possible was another challenge…but that too pays off. I HAD TO ASK MYSELF…”Am I doing everything possible to mitigate my pain besides taking opioids? Have I given these alternative approaches time to work? I can’t quit on them too soon…I must give them a chance”.

    There were days I didn’t think these approaches would pay off…it would have been very easy to give up and just take the opioids.
    Now, I can ONLY speak for myself…and I had to be honest with myself…after a month or two, I could have said I tried the exercising, the stretching, the meditation, the diet, the yoga; time to just take the pills. But by the third month things really did start paying dividends. By 6 months they were helping even more. And now 6 years later, they work better than ever.

    The oxycodone I take works well and I do need them…but I have taught myself that I don’t need them every day. AND I know I am better for it. The pills work as well today as when I first started taking them on a regular basis…BUT, I have not developed tolerance or dependence. I have found a good balance…BUT ONLY AFTER A LOT OF HARD WORK AND STICKTO-IT-TIVENESS.
    I personally know people on opioids for pain that practice absolutely no alternative pain therapies other than take the pills. Oh they have tried alternative therapies briefly…for weeks, perhaps a month, or slightly more…I know people who have done them longer but not on a consistent basis…all of them have basically said the alternative therapies really don’t work, and stay with the pills.

    I know there are people that absolutely must take opioids every day and very little else helps…BUT with more than 240 million prescriptions written last year for opioids in this country, I do take pause. My best friend has been on opioids for much longer than I am…his wife as well…one for low back pain, the other for arthritis. They do nothing but take the pills…no exercise, no stretching, nada…except the pills. Of the tens of millions of people in this country with significant pain, and are on opioids, how many have sincerely tried alternative pain remedies for an EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME? How many haven’t tried or tried and didn’t give them equal time? AGAIN…there are those that MUST take opioids every day…but how many take the easier route of just taking the pills??

  40. DJ on November 6, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    I had so much pain for so many years without knowing wth was wrong with me! It was always something…a lot of stomach pain, joint pain, insomnia, extreme fatigue, etc. Finally I was diagnosed with Lupus! So no telling how many years I had it before the docs finally figured it out. By this time I was taking a small dose of Norco. And I have told my doctors this too…they actually make me feel normal for a few hours out of my day, or if I have to be a normal person for a few hours. I wouldn’t want to see how my life would be without that bit of relief. So now I have to drive and see my doctor so often, when I used to be able to do it over the phone. If I need to talk her to her about increasing my dose I am scared and nervous they will be taken away all together, so I don’t mention it. The pharmacist asks a lot of questions and treats me like a drug addict. I absolutely hate it! I was in the military, I was an RN for 20+ years and now this is what my life has become…being treated like a drug addict because I have this stupid disease that causes me to be in pain 24/7. Ugh…It wouldn’t be a bad life if there wasn’t such a stigma! I even tried to get off everything completely and it was a miserable existence…so I guess I have to have people treat me like a drug addict if that’s what it takes to be able to move every once in awhile and see my kids and grandkids. I just hope the situation doesn’t get worse.

  41. Anonymous on November 25, 2015 at 6:11 am

    I was hurt in 1988 went through hell just find out why the pain was so out of proportion rsd.went to pain clinics liberty mutual ins.stopped them all because chronic pain does not cause depression would pay for lobotamiy though.tens units-pumps -stimulators-nothing helped could not continue to fight them any more took lousey settellment just to get away.problems with drugs to many side affects.now 27 yrs. latter I have to get cut back on the only thing that ever gave me some kind of life.the use of morophine is not what ever invisioned in my life nor did I envision that in 27yrs of the most pain I feel a person can be in is being cut to point I am so afraid of going back to is happenining again.at the age of 30 I litterely lost every thing my marriage my home bankrupcey my mind an my dignity.yes I have built up a huge tollotance to that drug but until there is something else what to do.my drugs go into a safe the day I get them they nevere go to any one but me.i can not afford a $687 amonth spend down to go to a pain clinic.i am not a junkie never done heroin never will.because I am a chronic pain patient I am going to loose every thing again.not to mention all of my teeth being broken because I grind them can not fix them no money so junkies are junkies they are going to continue to kill them selfselfes. sorry if you have srrow for one but I want to live but just what is the cost to me?this kind of pain is just unbelievable.an I am afraid and lost once again any ansewers would help.because I will not loose every thing again which is a whole lot less then whan I was 30 an now 59yrs old

  42. Anonymous on November 25, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    i would love to know if there are any petitions running to prevent this “opiates do not meet the standard of care” before this country was taken over by other countries native Americans used opiates for medicinal use and never had complaints. I find this decree an insult to humanity. I was in a head on collision in 1995 i suffered bi lateral tmj as well as my cervical was pretty much shattered and my l1 s5 was seriously damaged all to the point I had two major surgeries years later as right after the accident i was told that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me I moved back to PA and followed up with my primary care giver they identified i had budging discs and nothing was ever mentioned about my cervical issues. finally five years after the accident and may injections which landed me with spinal bleeds major head aches and aggravated my immune suppression I sought a neurosurgeon who ordered a complete scan of my entire spine to discover i needed a cervical fusion and a cage in my lumbar region. this was successful for five more years I managed to work blue collar jobs maybe more on a mans level of work but it did help me support my family as I was the sole provider. I then began physical therapy and injections once again. I moved to Florida hoping the use of a pool would benefit my health. Everything i attempted to deal with the pain was futile. I was scheduled surgery for a electronic device and ended up too sick to follow through thinking this was an omen I elected to not follow through. tens units did nothing for the pain. injections, again nothing, i was prescribed fentynal and this for the past tens year has given me relief to function normally they had me up to 75 mcg every two days but due to insurance and doctors office making me go through withdrawal every month or so as a result of prior authorizations not being done in a timely manner I decided to deal with some pain and back it down to a lower dose. finally i got on a regular dose and still functional and i missed an appointment back in July of 2013 when I had several (3) family members pass within ten days I completely missed the appointment and was shocked to hear I would have to go off the patch for four months .. until i was seen by the pain management doctor. my primary care issued me morphine at a low dose which did nothing for the pain and I suffered for four months with massive diarrhea on top of the pain. I am not one to complain my thresh hold for pain is very high as is everyone in my family. but this new rule that opiates do not meet the standard of care is a load of BS as with many of our fundamental rights being stepped on like video cameras in every corner of the world. I was on lortabs vicodin, apap3 you name it for 7 years until they started eating my stomach lining to the point i can not stomach advil now.. opiates are the only option.. and the pain management doctors know this.. so what happened to the oath to do no harm??? they are when patients who have walked the walk and done everything by the book yet are still being made to suffer the rest of their lives in pain unbearable pain.. most of them have done nothing to deserve such pain, they worked devoted their lives to our country, yet they are victims of circumstances and now being made to pay the ultimate price with their lives i for one am another that would sooner live a shorter life than a longer one if i have to contend with the level of pain i will be forced to if not provided with the patch which has given me the past ten years of a basically functional life, if it had not been for my heart immune seizure and lung concerns I would be able to work. but my health over all is in poor condition so i guess unless i am a contributing member of society i am not worth anything but all my years of service to the society i live in isnt worth seeing me live in comfort until my demise.

  43. Julie Geck on November 25, 2015 at 9:44 pm

    Here is the letter I drafted for my Oregon Senators and Representatives:

    RE: CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

    Dear Honorable

    My name is Julie Geck and I am writing to ask for a change in attitudes toward people in pain and who need improved access to treatments. I would like for my perspective to be heard when actions are taken to curb opioid abuse problems.

    I had a schwannoma tumor removed from my brain stem March 6, 2006. The good news is that the tumor was successfully removed and was benign. The bad news, no, the horrible news is that I was left with a rare condition called Anesthesia Dolorosa.

    Anesthesia Dolorosa

    Anesthesia dolorosa is a painful numbness of the face which is constant.
    It can be caused by damage to the trigeminal nerve including surgery, rhizotomy, or stereotactic radiation. The treatment is difficult and includes oral medications, compound face creams, nerve stimulation, cortical stimulation and deep brain stimulation.

    Source: HealthTap, https://www.healthtap.com/user_questions/1307612-can-you-get-anesthesia-dolorosa-with-any-brain-surgery-or-just-when-the-tril

    I have tried everything recommended; this includes visiting many doctors/pain clinics and trying many different types of medications, mirror therapy, Botox injections, cranial manipulation, acupuncture, marijuana and motor cortex stimulation (this is a craniotomy in which probes were inserted in my brain for electrical current to try to break the pain cycle) which worked for about 2 months and then stopped.

    My day to day constant pain level is a 7 out of 10; it would be worse if I was not on high levels of oxycodone.

    My doctor has advised me that new guidelines in prescribing this and other opioids will limit her ability to prescribe the level that we have found to give me some functional quality of life. Needless to say, this scares me since at this time, I have no other treatment options.

    I do not disagree that there are many people who abuse these drugs and who lose their lives. I understand the need to prevent this abuse. However, patients like myself who suffer from years of chronic pain and who deserve this relief need to be recognized.

    When my doctor told me that my level of medications would be greatly reduced by the new guidelines, she was almost in tears. She knows that substantially cutting my medications will render me non functional. She is very frustrated with her inability to relieve the unimaginable levels of pain suffered by some patients.

    We are joining the efforts put forward by Dr. Lynn R. Webster who states “The truth is, some patients require the use of opioids long term, a fact acknowledged even by many of the most vocal opioid critics.”

    As you review legislation pertaining to the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opiods for Chronic Pain; I implore you to know there is another side to the story.

  44. Augie on December 3, 2015 at 10:27 pm

    This has been a truly remarkable reading experience. As a member of the present collective–one for which nobody would volunteer–I take away (which I might have guessed at) a powerful sense of how numerous we are; and that keeps the flip side of itself (recognition of how easily you get marginalized when you’re on “house arrest”–nicely put, that) a little at bay. I’m impressed by those who have invested the time and effort in telling their stories because I know that even the narrative effort takes energy. I’m impressed at the convergence of those stories in ninety-five per cent of cases reported into a series of foreseeable, evidently endlessly redundant scenarios, and as well at how well those few story lines run parallel to my own. In the end, the totality speaks ill of the way medical practice runs in this country in general, indeed; and, again, I must concur with this view. We have arrived at a sad stop along the road–or perhaps been highjacked–if the destination was really healthcare. Look around: all you see is hypocrisy, injustice, and plain cruetyl. Hippocrates would be appalled.

  45. Augie on December 3, 2015 at 10:36 pm

    Just posted brief thanks for all the above; nearly the final word was an unfortunate typo that ought to have read “just plain cruelty.”

  46. lmwater on December 4, 2015 at 4:08 am

    After reading these post I realize I am not alone. Chronic Pain as most posts, Morphine 45MG three times a day makes my life human for the first time in decades. Write Congress and the DEA let them know government only responds to numbers / pressure and it looks like there is plenty here. My pain doctor is not responsive and I have experienced withdrawals for 16-24 hours waiting for refills. I have been on morphine ER for 6 years its the ONLY thing that works. Keep pain treatment between the experts and not the DEA.

  47. Anonymous on December 4, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    In order to protect people from themselves they are punishing other people with incurable diseases. It is disgusting, especially in this country. I was 19 when I had my first cortisone shot, it punctured my spinal canal and left me with permanent nerve damage. I also have progressive ankylosing spondylitis which makes it impossible to be still without being in pain 24/7. Sitting and sleeping are the worse. I have been to multiple Dr.s, all of which want to do more injections. I will never have another injection after the first one so I am stuck in pain 24/7. After being out of work and school for over a year after the shot I began self medicating and have been able to return to school and work. Opioids are the only thing that helps, they allow me to be able to sit through my classes and concentrate as well as at work. I am in constant fear of being caught with them and in my state its a felony for even one pill. Like most chronic pain patients I have never taken one more pill than I needed or taken them for anything other than pain. I hope that as a larger portion of our population continues to live longer and more people are afflicted with chronic pain conditions that this will eventually change.

  48. victoria on December 13, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    My doctor of 15 years. I feel has throw me away. What do I do ?try to find a doctor when u can hardly walk.
    I believe in god. But I can’t deal with this PAIN WHOLE BODY. FIBROMYALIA,BONE DIEASE,MYOFASCIAL PAIN. 14 HERNIATED DISC. I’VE HAD 11 SURGERIES. I COULD GO ON.i had 5 surgeries for cancer didn’t need pain mess for that. But with spinal cord big difference. I need help before I decide to go to heaven

  49. dahnb2000 on December 20, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    DEA/FDA studies biased to show opiates as cause of death: DEA/FDA “studies”- any death that shows the presence of an opiate in the blood is counted as an opiate death. If you are killed driving drunk and have vicodin in your blood, that is an “opiate death”. If the death is due to a toxic reaction to the acetominophen in the hydrocodone then that is an opiate death (more people actually die from acetominophen toxicity than hydrocodone overdose)
    Where are the studies showing how the death rates have dropped since the new restrictions went in place???

  50. Laurel on December 29, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    Pain Management is a scam. You are being forced by the insurance companies and these regulations to go see and pay for a specialist, which costs substantially more than a primary care physician. Forced to pay for your own drug tests to prove your innocence over and over again. Forced to pay for outrageously expensive steroid injections and other treatments because they are considered safer and “less invasive” than a prescription for a narcotic pain reliever.

    I’m not an addict, but I’m contemplating turning to the streets to obtain relief from my pain. Just because I don’t have cancer doesn’t mean I should just live with and tolerate the pain. I was sent home with a letter from a recent ER that pretty much said just that, ‘they do not routinely give pain medicine for sudden increases in pain for patients who do not have cancer’

    So tell me why my pain, from a herniated disc in my neck, isn’t severe enough for me to be treated with temporary pain relief? I will get no escape from this pain. I would rather see a cancer patient get relief than myself, but it doesn’t mean my pain isn’t bad. This is what I do not understand. Why is my pain not serious? Because I’m not going to die from it? It may not be terminal, but it may drive me to suicide. It sucks bad enough for me to live with this pain every day and without any chance of even temporary relief, but on top of that to be treated like a criminal? An addict? A drug seeker? That means you don’t believe me, and that’s the worst thing any doctor could do to a patient. At that point, there is no treatment because you are seen as a liar and therefore, a nuisance.

    The pain management clinic I went to wanted to to expensive injections, big surprise! That means more money for them, instead of providing me something for temporary, acute pain relief when it gets so bad i can’t stand it anymore – which doesn’t get them any money. Another thing I don’t understand, why can a doctor not provide a pain medication that can be taken as needed? Why does it have to be every 6 hours around the clock? Being forced to take it constantly if you have ‘good days’ just increases the risk of dependancy and addiction. Why? $$$$$$ Money! Pain mgmt is a scam. Forced visits to a specialist, forced contracts, drug tests, extra visits, injections and other costly treatments. And no other option. How can anyone not see it for what it is?

  51. Rich on December 30, 2015 at 4:40 am

    Ken Adams i read ur situation with some similarities to mine, and Brother i feel ur pain, with relationship ending due to your medical issues as mine did as well, what a horrific feeling to accomplish so much as I have as well like so many others as well and to think and remember when your on top of the world in top physical shape and feeling indestructible to have something happen to us to take us down n down hard, it’s not only the physical body that suffers but the mind is in complete panic and anxiety along with depression and it suffers deeply, and I can speak for myself on this but my Soul screams out to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to help me, to please end my pain and suffering to heal me or take me home so I can suffer no more, then I realize n think how Jesus suffered more pain then any man could or will ever suffer n without hesitation because he loves us and so he suffered and died so we can be with him in Heaven one day, and I know as one who suffers pain everyday all day it can seem to not come fast enough, but I take it day by day minute by minute and I pray to God everyday and many times multiple times a day, with some powerful results I will say, And I have to say reading so so many testimonials on here Breaks my Heart, I am in the same situation as many of you and many with the exact procedures L4,L5,S1 Fushion with devastating results, pain pain n more pain, and we live in a country run by a Government that has No right to stick their business in the Medical side of this country, most people in pain n on meds know their limits and what works so they can have normality in life and be responsible, so if some get them n drink on them n abuse them and OD, we’ll for that I am truely sorry, and sorry for their inability to take them in a safe and responsible manner, and Im sorry for every person who lost a friend, family member, child, love one to the epidemic mainly due to the rotten lying piece of crap dirt bags who lied and scammed the system to get them to sell to these unsuspecting people who were not properly taught and explained the dangers that can come from zero knowledge and taking too many and mixing with alcohol n other drugs, but the rest of the population suffering from Chronic Pain are in desperate need of a system to work for us, and not treating us like crap, we have the training and knowledge and respect for them and the benefits these can do to help our lives, and I would rather take these meds with what ever risk may be and have relief then go through life how we are forced too. So stop taking it out on us for what others have done, the times have changed alot with restrictions and training should be easy for all the Dr. Needs to see is the file most of us have with the 100 things we have had done, and tolerated because it was what was protocol to exhaust all resources and options for cures that never existed to allow us to get proper pain relief…

  52. susan on January 13, 2016 at 3:02 am

    *****CDC has new guidelines that will make everything worse. They are asking the public for comments. I think tomorrow the 13th might be the last day. Obviously, people are affected and should make their thoughts known. Only 3000 people have written in. about half of them seem to be pro regulations.

  53. susan on January 13, 2016 at 3:08 am

    PS— I think writing to congressman is a huge waste of time all you get a stupid form letter back. They don’t care. I think the DEA is after narcotics so the “business” they lose from medical and recreational marijuana is made up. The United States is starting to have the drug policies of the Middle East. Pain people are a silent / minority so no one cares.

  54. Dee Green on January 17, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    It’s time for the 100 million chronic pain sufferers to speak up with one voice ? Stand Up and Be Counted-we deserve to be heard Loud & Clear! The war on drugs has slowly morphed into the war on pain patients and their treating physicians ? Many are to sick and frail to speak out, so it’s up to us- Family members, friends and treating physicians must fill the void and be the best advocates that we can be? The chronic pain community is depending on us! We need to bring all groups who suffer from chronic pain together and speak with one voice! Chronic pain affects 1 in 3 people in America (that’s a lot of people)- This is an election year and we deserve to have a voice in the current environment that seeks to limit access to treatment- sending pain care back to the dark ages ? Those who say that Cancer pain patients won’t be affected by any proposed “guidelines” haven’t seen the recent stories coming from throughout the country- This will affect Everyone who suffers? The media is covering only the addiction story lines and while that population needs access to treatment- it’s a very small population compared to the 100 million chronic pain sufferers! The Antiopioid lobby groups are taking full advantage of the media’s unwillingness to cover the travesty of untreated and under treated pain, by pushing a prohibition model and advocating a “pain pills =heroin” agenda. It’s time to confront each of these groups who oppose the compassionate care of chronic pain patients (Veterans, civilian, young, elderly, baby boomers and all in between) #painedlivesmatter & #chronicpaindeserves2beheard- That’s my rant for today! I speak for my spouse & my father- they shouldn’t be made to suffer the way that they do? For goodness sakes-this is 2016!!

  55. jg on January 21, 2016 at 10:22 am

    I had a herniated disc in my lower back removed by a hack doctor in 2000. In the process he drove the screws he put in into the disc above the herniated disc setting up operation 2 in 2002. The second doc told me i was also badly scared due to operation one. This has left me messed up and in bad pain.
    Long story short, first doc (primary care) quit managing my pain due to fears of the DEA. So I found a pain management doc to help me. Now after 3 years I get the DEA has issued new guidelines and he started pushing for injections that have never helped yet again. Told him no, dmn tired of the pain induced by the injections with no relief. Last visit, im15’s cut from 4 times a day to 3 (I do take one er30 cap a day too).
    I have intentionally not asked for more relief due to
    A: I do not want to be accused of being an addict (but in truth, I do know I am addicted as I can not just stop taking them, but I do not take them for or get a “buzz”)
    B: do not want a tolerance so high I max out on meds a long time before I die (55 now, hurt in 1998) (but they are becoming less effective due to tolerance of what I am taking so I have to live with the pain)
    C: don’t want the doc in trouble and do not want to lose him because in this city of 100,000 people there are only 2 pain management doc I know of and even if I get a doc to see me (first doc booted me for not taking anti-depressants that messed up my head and did not help the pain and that is a bad story on it’s own too) as soon as they scan the inch thick records (old days) they just do not want anything to do with treating my pain because this is for the rest of my life (again, 55 now)
    So, now I do not know where this is going. I don’t know if he is that afraid of the DEA, he just wants to push injections that do not work and are very painful so he is putting me in more pain so I will do it (big money maker-insurance-workers comp) or is he weening me to release me.
    I don’t know. All I see is a life of misery ahead. I have given up just about everything I used to do. I was a very active outdoors person, hunting, camping, hiking. All I do is fish once in a while in the summer for a few hours here and there if I feel up to it. Other than that, I don’t do crap. Visit friends once in a while but it is as long as we just sit around. Last GF gone due to the anti-depressants turning me into an a-hole and ya, do not want to do much of anything because of the pain too.
    Do not want to be or sound like a whiner but the pain rules my life. It dictates what I do and how long I do it. And when it gets too bad and I can no longer get any relief, well…I don’t know. Right now I just do not know.
    But the DEA is running the show. It is them and not my doctor, who spent over 8 years to become a doctor, that decides if and how much medication I get. A frigging lawyer, not a doctor, is in charge of the DEA and he makes the “guidelines” for the doctors. A frigging lawyer. No frigging medical experience at all. What a crock of crap. I don’t go to my doctor for legal advice, what give a lawyer the right to decide the medication guidelines. Where the heck is his medical degree? Nowhere, he has none.
    Dmn, going to stop now because talking about that is just making my blood pressure go up. Well, I wish the best for all you in pain. God bless.

  56. Tonya on January 25, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    its so frustrating that people label those of us that have legitimate chronic pain as drug addicts. There is a huge difference between a chemical dependency and an addict. I cannot dispute the fact that these meds have a chemical impact on my body but I AM NOT AN ADDICT…I have no desire to search the streets for illegal substances, I do not drink alcohol and most often or not I limit my daily dose of my meds used for breakthrough pain.

    Any one with a brain can see the difference between someone that has real pain, you can see it on their face, and someone who is just a drug seeker!

    I have been suffering for 23 years with Fibromyalgia, I have no developed arthritis, 1 knee surgery and scheduled for a second and now I have such horrible pain in my lower back that I have no idea where the actual pain comes from because it is now causing numbness in both of my legs.

    I do not just use pain killers! I have tried injections, EVERYWHERE I might add, I’ve had them in my knee, very deep ones in my back and even pressure point injections in multiple places at the same time. The did not last long at all, maybe a bit of relief for that day.

    I use a TENS unit, I’ve tried all the neuro meds, NSAIDS, I am currently on anti depressants as well. Lets face it, we all do not have the same pain issues therefore we require different methods of treating that pain. I am very involved with my doctor in everything we do and oddly enough I was sitting here writing out what I want to discuss with my doctor when I see her again this week. I like to be proactive and try anything I can find as well as anything she suggests. This includes asking her about Radiofrequency ablation and Biofeedback. I hate that my body will not work the way I want it to, I am only 46 and have a 10 year old son that quite often wants to hug his mom yet it is painful for me, its just not fair! But its life…

    Here is my one complaint about hydrocodone, it no longer works for me for the breakthrough pain, I’ve been on it too long so now we need to find what will work next. This happens to many of us, still that does not warrant the DEA putting such harsh restrictions on us nor does it give you finger pointers the right to call us drug addicts.

    I am empathic to each of you that suffer some sort of pain, its horrible, its restrictive and quite simply it makes life hard to bear sometimes. I wish all of you wellness and good health and pray that you will find relief each and every day!

  57. Demerise on February 5, 2016 at 10:25 pm

    Hydrocodone has been a Schedule iI for years. The Hydrocodone combination drug products were in Schedule III until October of 2014. I would not want to be claiming to be an expert when readily available published FACTS can be turned to for reference.

  58. Crystal on February 7, 2016 at 7:16 am

    I have not read all the comments, but want to say this……………WHY is ALCOHOL NOT CONSIDERED A DRUG??????????? Has anyone gone to colleges and watched all of what they drink, put in their drinks, and there have been a few suicides from these other drugs that are called SPICE………..I’d rather see my kid on Pot then be an acloholic or drug addict………….It’s gotten so out of hand I think the Lord above is the only one who can FIX the problem……….and I feel that all these cell phones, internet, the games that kids are learning a speaking at such early ages to me is scary………………..that is why there is no socializing in the world anymore……….how many dating web sites are there????? I loved the 70’s and would go back in a heart beat…………I feel bad for this generation…………..never thought it would get this bad…………….

  59. Anonymous on February 9, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    John concerning injections

  60. Anonymous on February 9, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    John ,
    Concerning your comment on injections. Yes injections can be a good thing and work for some, For others it is nothing but trouble. I had a pain management Dr who insisted on the injections. Way over the allowed amount. I developed steroid induced osteomylitis.. It has destroyed my lower spine for life. I can never have a injection again. The infection it caused cost me a year of my life, 7 weeks IV antibiotics and a year of oral antibiotics then surgery to clean up my destroyed tissue and bone. Yes my life is now one of constant pain. 8 spine surgeries to correct and well as they could and my pain meds reduced. I was forced to retire due to this. I was able to work while on my regular dose of meds but now the reduction I can barely walk,I must now use a walker when I can get out of bed so injections are no always the answer

    • RickyDroofer on August 28, 2017 at 10:47 am

      Yeah, I am there at that point after a deadly bout with nectorizing fascitis on my arm my pain is unbearable and asked my sister to put it n my will to sue my doctors for not caring for me properly and she just as ignorant as the system and doesn’t think it would do any good it so sad the lack of empathy from people who have never been thru anything horrific in their lives and so for that I just put her out of my will she’s a terrible care giver and just letting me sit here and rot away in pure misery I am so disgusted with this society its pathetic

  61. Geo on February 21, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    I’m feeling it. Went from making a lifetime of being a armed protector in uniform protecting these people, to being technical disabled feeling like a criminal in the doctors office dealing with new anti pain med doctor. Come to find out threw an inside informant, this doctor cut and or lower pain Meds by half across the board for all of the patients upon their first visit with him after he took over during his first month where he has his practice now. There is no way this can occur without affecting those who need such Meds. As a result of this type of activity, suicide is on the rise as doctors are being paid to not treat people’s illnesses, thus adverslely negatively affecting the quality of life. How can it be right for a doctor to first and foremost make it a point to cut Meds in half or even completely to all of his patience regardless of their disposition, history, and medical evidence just to promote himself as a anti pain med Doctor, only to impress those who pay him. When doctors start getting sued because the patient commits suicide because they can’t stand the pain anymore because the doctor stopped their pain Meds, maybe only then will the doctors think about the morals and responsibility involved here.

    • RickyDroofer on September 6, 2017 at 8:41 pm

      yep Im looking for an attorney now I’m also trying to get thru to the ACLU and see why they haven’t filed a class action law suit I’m trying to do that as well

  62. Anonymous on February 24, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    I wish it were only every 90 days that I had to go to my Doctor for refills. MY doctor makes me come every TWO WEEKS for a refill on my hydrocodone. No I’m not kidding. He says I am a tough case because of all of my illnesses and chronic pain. And he says this way he is covering himself and keeping an eye on me and my health.

    It’s a thorn in my side to go this often considering the health problems I have, but I have to do what I have to do. At least I still have a doctor who is treating me like a human being with compassionate care. Unlike thousands of people I know who have had their doses lowered to the point it does not even help them any more.

    And I am fortunate to also have a caring pharmacist who knows about ALL of my health problems and why I am on the dose I am on.

    This is an OLD ARTICLE because things have sure changed since this was written. Millions of chronic pain patients are coping with or I should say TRYING to cope with this INHUMANE NIGHTMARE that our government has turned our lives into.

    So much so that I started an organization to try to help chronic pain patients with this fight for our HUMAN RIGHTS to use opiates. I am the founder of Chronic Pain Rights. We have a website and a Facebook group. We are fighting HARD for our rights as human beings against our government who seems to think WE chronic pain patients are drug addicts and we don’t NEED to be dependent on opiates for pain relief.

    YES that’s right, we are DEPENDENT on opiates, but that does NOT make us drug addicts. We depend on opiates for a quality of life. Without SOME pain relief the majority of us are bedridden. And the CDC has the nerve to SAY “Opiates are not proven to work for long term pain relief”.

    That statement is FAR from the truth, just ASK a chronic pain patient like ME who has been on opiates for many years and has NEVER ever abused them. I take them as prescribed. MY monthly drug test is PROOF that I take them as prescribed.

    HELP chronic pain patients STOP this INHUMANE TREATMENT. We have a right to use WHAT works for US. What gives us a quality of life with our families. And allows us to take care of our own personal hygiene. Otherwise many of us would NEED a DAILY NURSE to help us. This would COST insurance companies even MORE MONEY.

    I could go on and on here…. BUT I won’t because NO ONE listens to us anyway. SAD but TRUE.

  63. .Robbie Wolfe on March 2, 2016 at 4:22 am

    I am a 53 year old female that has been taking opiates for 13 years for chronic low back pain and knee pain. I had the injections in my lumbar spine last year and I feel greater pain right now than I have ever felt that was caused by my last injection. They never helped me but I had to get them in order to receive any medications. Last month I was called into the dr.’s office for a pill count. I don’t drive and my husband was 200 miles away, working. Needless to say, I could not find a way to get to the doctor’s office which was an hour away from where I lived. Therefore I violated my contract and was dismissed from any further care or treatment from that doctor! I am in so much pain right now it’s unreal. I somehow have to find another dr. to treat me and don’t know where to turn. I find myself crying most of the time. I hurt so much that I find it difficult to pull myself up off the toilet sometimes. I cannot afford to buy the medicine off the street. Yes, I have actually thought of putting myself out of this misery, but I am too much of a coward to do something like take my own life. What “can we do? Write letters to the government:..would it help any at all

    • RickyDroofer on September 6, 2017 at 8:45 pm

      Contact the ACLU My heart goes out to you my doctor keeps threatening me to cut men off Im trying to find a lawyer to sue this shit isn’t right

  64. John on March 9, 2016 at 6:35 am

    I think it’s about time we sue doctors for not doing what they swore to do. Unbearable pain does not stop unless you make it stop.

  65. carol pasquarella on March 16, 2016 at 5:13 pm

    i am a 62 year old female with chronic pain, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, fibromyalgia, arthritis etc. i have been on pain meds for atleast 26 years and many of them have been taken away from me because the DEA has pushed doctors into fear of losing their licenses and WE have to suffer for it. is isnt fair that we should have to suffer for the problems some people have created. many of my meds the DEA has made it so that i cant even have them anymore…are they doctors??? what is happening to this country…the government has become the expert on everything and we have to live under their rules BUT i am sure they do whatever they want. whether they want to believe it or not we become opioid tolerant and we sure the heck arent getting high. it sure would be nice to atleast have a tolerable way to live.

  66. kristina dustin on March 16, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    I can’t even get a doctor to prescribe me any kind of opiate pain relievers at all. I get prescriptions of 800 mil ibuprofen and once in awhile get 30 flexeril. I recently switched pain management doctors hoping for more options but again walked out of the office bawling my eyes out. Im in so much pain I can’t even turn my head. I have MRI’s that clearly show disc degeneration, arthritis, and bulging discs that are compressing my nerves. Doctors don’t deny the fact that I’m in pain but say I’m not a candidate for narcotic pain relievers. They offer me injections but those things did horrible horrible things to my body! I was 100x worse after injections. I think part of the problem is I’m youngish, I’m 35 and female so I don’t think they take me seriously. I can’t tell you how many times I have laid in bed for weeks with spasms that have locked my whole body up so bad I can’t even walk and prayed for hours for God to just go ahead and take me cause if I have to live the rest of my life like this then I don’t want to live. I know if I told a doctor that they would lock me up and throw away the key! I have a friend that gives me a few extra 5 milligram percoset a month so occasionally I get about 2 or 3 hours of relief but thats it. Im so angry at life right now and am pissed off that I have know people who have walked out of a 12 year prison term for drug distribution but got 180 oxicoton, plus percoset and darvoset a month from a doctor. I went to that same dr with a herniated disc and he laughed at me. What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I not worthy of being helped? I see so many people complaining that they only get low dose pain meds and I can’t even get low doses. What amI doing wrong? Why won’t anyone help me? Im not making this up, I’m in excruciating pain and my spine is wasting away and no-one seems the least bit concerned ?

  67. Susan Garcia on March 17, 2016 at 5:40 am

    I suffer from horrible chronic pain too. I’ve had morphine in the past in regard to surgery. As soon as I wake up I have to have them remove it cause all it does is give me a horrible headache. One time I was in the ER for chest pain and they gave morphine to me and it helped. They said cause it opens your blood vessels. I have tried a friends Vicodin and it didn’t feel like I had taken anything. I’ve had relatives say that that hydrocon. stuff helps, I think that is one that is addicting. My one brother said it makes all your pain go away. You even feel young again. That sounded good. Then another brother was taking it, or maybe over-taking it and he got an enlarged heart and died at age 56. I’d like to try it at least once just to see if I could get pain relief if only for a day. I’m not an additive person unless you count cheese and ice cream. I don’t know anybody who takes them though and my primary care dr is wonderful but wouldn’t give it to you if your head was hanging off your neck, I suspect. I would love some relief cause I was crying yesterday when I got home from the grocery store. It’s hot and humid now where I live in TX and I am suffering something awful.

  68. Robert E on March 17, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    The main increase in Oklahoma from the changes that have been made to accessing hydrocodone has been as tenfold increase in the use of heroin. Mainly because they did nothing to help fund treatment for those abusing the meds — leaving those of us who need them to function on a day-to-day basis to suffer.

  69. John on March 18, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    Eugenics at it’s finest & if you think heroin abuse is bad now it looks like instead of purdue making profits the government is choosing the cartels & the Taliban, not a big surprise with liberal socialists.

    If you think overdoses are bad now? just wait until people with genuine chronic pain that you can barely function have no choice but to go buy pure cheap heroin but glad to see medicare saving money & Obamacare that took over 750 million from medicare to fund Obamacare is so great.

    I’m sure this will help with the war on drugs, what medicare has done to old folks is criminal taking their meds but I’m sure it’s for the best if they die off along with the disabled & mentally ill.

    Shame on these people & hope they or a family member get to feel what being in constant mind numbing pain is like or maybe a relative then they might get it.

  70. Terry on March 19, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    Current treatment of disabled people who suffer from severe chronic pain represents one of the most despicable human rights abuses of the modern western world. Policies and positions being taken within both the state and the federal government and forced on the medical community are having barbaric consequences for pain sufferers. In early 2015, a stage-4 cancer patient from Florida named Darlene Patsos died without any palliative care for pain because no pharmacy would fill a pain pill prescription. This is a national disgrace and is the direct result of DEA thuggery and interference with wholesale prescription drug supplies.

    What the United States is doing is akin to torture of its own citizens. The following UN report says it best: (2013) Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, “Ensuring the availability and accessibility of medications included in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines is not just a reasonable step but a legal obligation under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. When the failure of States to take positive steps, or to refrain from interfering with health-care services, condemns patients to unnecessary suffering from pain, States not only fall foul of the right to health but may also violate an affirmative obligation under the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment (A/HRC/10/44 and Corr.1, para. 72).” I think it’s way past time we call this what it really is, a crime against humanity.

  71. Jen on March 20, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    I’m so glad I found you folks! Sometimes it feels like I’m alone in this battle. My husband has chronic pain, as well, from a totally different source. But that means that we both struggle, and it makes it hard to be there for someone else when you’re hurting all the time, as well.
    Recently my husband’s insurance company turned him down for meds he was already on for the past SIX YEARS! Do they think, “Well, that’s been long enough. Time to come off”? Come on! We don’t get better; we just try to survive.

  72. c i a surveillance van on March 24, 2016 at 11:10 am

    My doctor says next year pain med will not be available .Big pharma will put out pretend pain drug thats designed to fool your brain.Wonder if its anti depressants?The insurance big pharma and gov are in bed together

    • RickyDroofer on September 6, 2017 at 8:58 pm

      Yep it is because here the acts big Pharma can’t profit from opiates cause they can’t be patented because its naturally derived so there trying to push and brain wash the medical doctors into believing in replacing opiates with depression meds as they can make an unknown fortune read the CDC & DEA pages there trying to use sceinnctist to say depression meds can do the same as opiates and less is better there fuckin crazy complain to the ACLU please

  73. chronicpain15 on March 25, 2016 at 5:18 am

    chronic pain patients need they’re medications whether it’s oxycodone Oxycontin hydrocodone Dilaudid morphine methadone Etc…and anyone or any agency who claim otherwise, are complete idiots. I have tried so many medications over the past 30+yrs, tried n tried n tried and finally found one that works. Been on it for 10yrs now and it changed my life so much for the better, it gives you back some life. Nothing makes you pain free, but lowering the scale from a nine to a five or six, is really miraculous. (a 10 on the pain scale means a bullet to the head, that is how bad the pain is for chronic patients and its 24/7, 7 days a week) Would any of you ignorant people deny a loved one they’re narcotic pain meds, if that was the way they had to live every miserable day? Or, if you wind up in our shoes, do you really want to have to jump thru hoops, be treated like scum, a criminal, or drug addict (junkie), because you need a medication that allows you to live, instead of rotting away in bed, waiting to die because nothing else gives you relief enough to even get out of bed? And we are all depressed. We would love to lead a normal life, but because of injury or disease, we need our narcotic pain meds in order to have any quality of life. And none of you gaf…and that makes us depressed. We are not criminals. We are not a number. We are people, just as a diabetic needs insulin, we as chronic, intractable pain patients, NEED OUR NARCOTIC PAIN RELIEVERS.
    My beliefs dont allow suicide, but pain has been so bad at times, i wanted God to take me. And a chronic pain patient cannot just start off as one. It takes years to be properly diagnosed and med adjustments and trial and error etc.
    Same a this ridiculous gun control. Take the guns from law abiding citizens, the criminals will still and always have them…just as the junkies will always be able to get high.
    Its not patients that are abusing or wanting to get high…just as its not us true Americans that are out shooting people. We have rights and the right to a quality of life and a right to bear arms. Stop the madness and educate yourself before starting this “war on prescription opiates” and gun control….etc. just because a rich politician’s kid gets strung out or od’s, we all have to pay for it? Naw…not happening. Look at the root problem…poor parenting or like i said…THE PEOPLE WHO WANNA GET HIGH, ARE GOING TO NO MATTER WHAT… Why is this like rocket science written in a long lost language to you people?
    For crap sake…we only get so many pills per month and have to submit to random drug screening. What else do you want from us?

    Gee, i wonder how the Country would react if you treated heart patients, diabetics, etc…the same, horrible, unconstitutional way…you treat chronic pain patients? Just sayin…
    And as for you whom “the shots worked”…. well isnt that special. But you have no clue as what real, life taking pain, is. Ya, i broke my knee cap and ruptured the bursae…the shot worked. But da…the pains of that injury and chronic intractable pain…is like comparing apples and zebras. I cannot fathom the stupidity of some people. We are talking chronic, lifelong pain, that will never ease up or get better….that is why we need our meds. And no…the nerve blocks didnt do shit either except put a boatload of loot in that doctors pocket.
    The humanity. The stupidity. Its the 21st century…get a f’n grip. Educate yourself before making any decision. And try and walk a mile in someones shoes…but i guess its easier to stereotype than learn. Just go with it…all the media hype and scare tactics thrown at us daily.
    I wonder how many of you anti pain relief or anti gun people actually geared up for y2k???
    I am sickened by all of you who have pretty much wipe your asses with our U.S. CONSTITUTION…we the people, by the people…FOR THE PEOPLE!!!
    Or dont you know anything about that either?

    And yes folks, i used our 2nd amendment because its the same thing…criminals will always have drugs and guns…long after us American citizens have had them stripped from us.
    Also, cannabis is something to look into. The scare tactics dont work as much these days. If anything is a “GATEWAY DRUG”…its alcohol. Period.com.
    But cannabis in conjunction with opiates…helps dramatically. And this is the part the dea needs to acknowledge…IT KEEPS PEOPLE FROM WANTING TO TAKE MORE, THUS…LESS LIKELY TO KEEP WANTING OR “NEEDING” INCREASES IN DOSAGES. Its God’s gift guys…just as the opium poppy.
    Again…we only get so many pills per month. Just enough to make it to next month, and when they say pee in the cup…well…u gotta pee in the cup. So they know if you are using, abusing, diverting, and your doctor can tell if you are shady…just by conversing with you before writing your script.
    Stop demonizing us and our meds. Cannabis helps In conjunction with your opiates. If it can do the job alone, by all means, keep it green. Myself, the pain meds help with certain pain and the mmj helps with other pain, such as fibro and helps sleep. I am 50 and havent touched any drugs except what prescribed me since i was 19. I used to love smoking weed, but when i had my first kid, i stopped. Drinking too. Last year i tried it and yes…it is a God send. I havent had more than 4hrs of sleep since i was injured again at age 23. A motorcycle accident in 2013 left me with 40mins of sleep per night, no matter what the doctor prescribed. When i smoke, i get 6-8 hrs of sleep. That alone sold me. Your body needs sleep to heal and fight disease and so on. I feel so much better mentally and helps with many pain issues. But im not lucky enough to be able to use it alone. The guy that hit me was high on narcotics not prescribed to him, didnt know where he was, and smashed into me doing about 70mph while i was stopped…so yes, i need my pain meds too.

    I apologize for such a long comment, but the world needs to know. And the dea knows where the pill mills are, but are taking it out on all of us that need it. There is a difference between greed and doctors that take their hypocritical oath seriously. And the feds know who the shady docs are too. Thankfully, i have a doctor that wants his patients to have a quality of life.

    And a note…i moved and had to change insurances. The meds i have been on for 10 to 32years, my insurance company had no problem ever filling anything ive been prescribed,

    Meridian, the new one…they will not cover at all or even any equivilant…so many of you know the hell i speak of for the last 3mos. Bed ridden, waiting to die… So my doctor had to write for something i have tried yrs ago and failed. Its been hell and i am fighting it out on the fone…its like they are just waitng for me to die or say…f it…and eat a bullet.
    Makes you wonder if we are entering a soylent green era…POPULATION CONTROL. lol???

    Those of you that dont need a narcotic pain reliever daily for the rest of your life…have no clue as to what real pain is.

    • Cristina on July 22, 2017 at 4:00 am

      “Has”, or “why not “, have all of us gone against the Dea and filed “suit”!! If we can all get together, maybe we can sue the pants off these guys and stop them from killing us, slowly! !!!!

      • RickyDroofer on September 7, 2017 at 12:18 am

        contact the ACLU that what there for our civil rights and thats what this is all about

  74. TDG on March 27, 2016 at 3:27 am

    I was wondering why the hell I can’t get any medical care in AZ in 2014, and I could in GA back in 2011. I was seriously considering finding a lawyer and suing the doctor for refusing to prescribe pain medication to me over the past year. It has taken me two years for this med group to finally diagnose me with arthritis in my back and I am 42. This is BS. I need the pain meds I will be damned if I am going to sell them or give them away. Here is what sucks donkey testicals is that I bet I can go to a pot dr here and get that.

  75. jAMES hOOVER on March 27, 2016 at 8:13 am

    Dear Dr Lynn,
    When Taliban controlled Afghanistan less than 400 kilograms of Heroin production occurred in the year 2000. After America and its allies kicked out the Taliban Opiate production soared!!! to all time high levels under uncle sams watchful eye 400 tons!. Mean while back in the western hemisphere a wiki-leaks document from a mid level DEA agent to the thugs that run the Sinaloa cartel stating that in effect to stop all the guns violence in Mexico and furthermore that the DEA declared that the Sinaloa cartel was the winner of the drug distribution war and the other- looser cartels -either quit there war against the Sinaloa syndicate or suffer the wrath of American Black ops. Meanwhile the DEA had a problem what are we going to do with all that Mexican Heroin -who’s sales help prop up the Black op projects in the US? Answer lets find a good marketing company, who will pay Dr’s to write stupid articles LIKE THIS ONE so as to stigmatize all pain patients as junkies. While were at it lets through some Dr’s and Pharmacist in prison and strip them of their ability to ever help pain patients again. Its a win/win. The pain patients who commit suicide will save millions of taxpayer money and the survivor’s will have to buy our Heroine, Oh yes I can see it now. The D.E.A. won’t have to worry ever again about budget cuts.

  76. Kinkytale on March 28, 2016 at 4:37 am

    Near the end of each day, pain and inadequate treatment bring me one step closer to the point of no return. I lay in bed at night hoping that I will get some incurable disease so that I can move to a right to die state and end it peacefully. If I did not have kids, I would have been out of here a long time ago, but I do not want to stigmatize them.

    This discussion makes one thing is crystal clear; those of us who suffer from chronic pain (CP) are for the most part on their own. CP suffers fight an uphill battle daily. We don’t need pompous, self-righteous, condescending ass-wipes adding to our struggle. Speaking of which: Maureen Kielian, you were quick out of the gate on this one. You are obviously a troll and an idiot. New studies you say? Horseshit! Pony up: List them and PROVE, and I mean PROVE, there has been no conflict of interest with those who sponsor said studies and those who profit form the results. As long as the profit motive remains in medicine, vulture capitalist will continue to squeeze us for everything they can. The DEA, FDA, and the CDC are a revolving door to the pharmaceutical industry. Remember, once upon a time, doctors preferred Camels for their smokes, DDT was not carcinogenic, and asbestos did not cause mesothelioma. All had “new studies” to back their claims. And, we now know that trolls made these claims. What is clear is that opiates are the best hope for many of us who suffer.

  77. Sherry on March 28, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    Evidently now The D E A is my new pain management doctor.My doctor said The D E A wants me off ALL PAIN MEDS BY NEXT YEAR!I will then have to come in every day to get new script from every seven days.Doctor said D E A was given huge budget to attack soft targets like patients pharmacists and doctors for minor infractions to make an example to the rest .VOTE TRUMP,SHUT DOWN OBAMACARE

  78. Getta on April 8, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    SOMEONE needs to be tracking the pain related suicides and attempts. No REALLY.

  79. Justin Regis on April 9, 2016 at 12:29 am

    I was 46 years old when I was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. During my annual physical, my doctor noticed that my PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, score, which can be an indicator of prostate cancer, had risen since the previous year. He wanted me to see an urologist for some tests—namely, a biopsy—to see if I had any signs of prostate cancer. The test came back positive.

    My initial reaction after hearing the diagnosis was one of panic and anger. I was mad that this was happening to me, but then I made the decision that I had to do something about it.
    I wasn’t sure about continuing treatment with the urologist I’d seen near my home outside of Hartford, Connecticut. My hesitation was not to do with his medical expertise, but with the feeling he was not speaking to me as a whole person. So I ended his service as a physician with me.

    During my search for a new doctor, my sister, who works as a nurse, told me about cannabis oil, so we decided to give it a try, we order it on line through, phoenixtears_rickcannabis@outlook.com, and it was delivered to us, after using the cannabis oil for a month we went for test and found out that the cancer cells was reducing, i just want to let the world know that am free from cancer, and also my advice to dose who are fighting cancerous disease, please be proactive to treatment, do not wait till it get worst before seeking solution, their is absolute cure for cancer. Please fee free to email Phoenix Tears via phoenixtears_rickcannabis@outlook.com were i was able to purchase cannabis oil.

    Thanks, Justin Regis.

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  81. Anonymous on April 11, 2016 at 7:26 am

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  83. Kevin on April 23, 2016 at 8:28 am

    It’s a mess even if you’re in pain management for serious reason like I was with a lifelong illness that started in my 40s, you are suspect. Tests are assumed infallible so when I failed a test saying a given drug was not in my urine then told the only reason negative was I was not taking it, I nearly flipped out but did not lose my temper. It was sent off and proved that yes I was taking it. Through idiot DEA and failed war on drug changes and my own insurance company not willing to pay for a drug test, pain management actually was throwing me out yet saying I had been breaking rules for THREE years which is obviously not possible No drugs were given to tapper me off so klonopin 6mg a day, hydrocodone, morphine all stopped cold. I am ready to sue now a month later and also file class action. I believe I am under investigation by DEA since of course doctor knows I have no criminal past so probably figures if he can get one on me, it will make it better for him in court but news flash, I have done nothing wrong so if DEA comes into my home, class action again and that doctor will pay along with everyone in that practice with their licenses and finally 100 million bucks and attorney fees. I am fed-up, innocent over age 50 and taking my freedoms back. Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis are only two medical problems I have. I await them to mess my medical records up or fake investigation and I will legally destroy them. Be ready for a federal fight.

  84. Anonymous on April 25, 2016 at 10:28 am

    Please join our movement to combat this. Facebook page PATIENTSNOTADDICTS – #PATIENTSNOTADDICTS

  85. Anonymous on April 25, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    If I may contribute to an already long and contentious thread, I offer the following thoughts. I am not a medical doctor or a chronic pain patient. However, I have been an advocate for chronic neuropathic face pain patients for 20 years, and I have deeply studied the medical literature. I have published several web sites and communicated with literally over 15,000 chronic face pain sufferers, family members, and physicians. I wrote the Trigeminal Neuralgia Fact Sheet at US NINDS, and most of the Wikipedia article on Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia. A google search on my name will pull up thousands of hits related to the chronic pain community.

    I know whereof I speak. And unfortunately, I must regard the CDC guidelines on prescription of opioids in chronic pain to be nothing short of a war on chronic pain patients. The guidelines were based on weak or no medical evidence. They seriously confused accident deaths with death by suicide, and deaths by prescription drugs with deaths by street drugs. These guidelines MUST be withdrawn and rewritten. And the next time, the consultants working group needs to include board certified pain management specialists (which it did not previously) and chronic pain patients themselves as voting members.

    Reality is that opioid medication does not help all chronic pain patients. NOTHING helps all patients, and response to opioids (like response to anti-seizure meds) is highly individual due to genetic factors which cause a substantial part of the population to poorly metabolize one or more classes of meds.

    We must also acknowledge that there IS a risk of spiraling down into addiction for people who use high doses of opioids for weeks or more. And in some patients, these meds do stop working over time. Rebound pain is a real issue for some. Anyone who uses these meds should be supported by a medical professional who has specific training in pain management.

    But accepting these realities, there is another side: I have talked with hundreds of patients who have been successful in taking high doses of opioids over prolonged periods of time to control chronic pain. I believe from interacting with these folks, that most chronic pain patients do not get a “high” from these medications, unlike “recreational” drug abusers and addicts. Their doses are stable, and these meds have given them the only partial quality of life they have been able to obtain. It is clear that the CDC standards simply ignored the evidence of their testimony in public commentary on the standards.

    Drug addiction is a real and serious problem world wide. But solutions for addiction cannot be built upon the broken bodies of chronic pain patients. A balance must be struck between these two concerns. And the CDC Standards clearly failed in that effort.

    Sincerely,
    Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D.

  86. Anonymous on April 25, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    Chronic pain patients, advocates, doctors, families and friends we all tried to tell the DEA & CDC before it happened but they didn’t listen. We told them while they were in the process of making it harder for chronic pain patients but they didn’t listen. The rules the guidelines the laws are coming into place and even more are being made that make it more and more difficult for legitimate pain patients but they still aren’t listening. The drug over doses are increasing but they don’t know why? REALLY? The cartels are flooding the US with Fentanyl filled imposters of common pain medications that are killing what were legitimate pain patients that were & are being abandoned by their doctors. Are going to the streets for pain relief because they can’t stand to live in such pain and agony. The only other option suicide. So they take the risk with street drugs. We all tried & tried to warn the CDC & DEA but they didn’t listen we warned them before, during & after, but they continue to act like they don’t get it. They continue to allow chronic pain patients to suffer & work to find ways to discriminate between patients. They decided to play doctor & made the ridiculous claim that pain medications that have worked for 5000 years relieving pain suddenly don’t work anymore, but discriminating between patients doesn’t make sense either because if they don’t work anymore any better then why is it okay for those with cancer & dying on their death bed? Either they work or they don’t make up your minds CDC. But stop discriminating between the chronically ill in pain and picking and choosing who deserves pain relief who doesn’t. How did you decide who gets pain relief & who shouldn’t was a coin toss or was it because cancer patients are many and well represented that you decide not to mess with them because they could put up a better fight? The CDC & DEA continue acting like they don’t understand why suicides are rising even though the prescriptions for opioid pain medications are going down and down. It is really pathetic how the CDC & DEA are so smart at manipulating the public to get what they want. But in the next breath play dumb when they want to ignore the all the facts that are proving they are causing all of the suffering & death.
    We need to explain it again WE ARE PATIENTS NOT ADDICTS WE ARE BEING FORCED TO THE STREETS TO TAKE A CHANCE DIE OR GET SOME PAIN RELIEF? DYING OR GETTING SOME PAIN RELIEF OR WE CAN SKIP THE COIN TOSS OF WILL WE SURVIVE STREET PILLS & GO DIRECTLY TO DEATH. A DEATH THAT OCCURS IN TWO WAYS OUR BODIES CAN’T MAINTAIN ITSELF UNDER THE EXTREME INCREASE IN PAIN SO WE HAVE A CARDIAC EVENT & DIE. THE OTHER WE COMMIT SUICIDE. ARE YOU GETTING IT YET CDC & DEA ?? WE ARE NOT BEING GIVEN ANY OPTIONS AND THESE ARE ALL WE HAVE. QUIT PUNISHING CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS FOR THE FEW.STOP PUNISHING BY DISCRIMINATION AMONG THE CHRONICALLY ILL. WE DIDN’T CHOOSE THIS NO ONE WANTS THIS. WE ARE IN PAIN WE NEED RELIEF OR LIFE IS NOT WORTH ANYTHING IF YOU ONLY SEE IT FROM YOUR BED OR COUCH CURLED IN BALL IN UNRELIEVED EXTREME PAIN EATING AWAY AT YOU. WHILE OUR FAMILIES WATCH US SUFFER WATCH US WITHDRAW FROM LIFE FROM THE HAPPY PEOPLE WE WERE BECAUSE WE ARE TO ILL IN TOO MUCH PAIN TO DO ANYTHING ELSE. WE LAY WATCHING THE CLOCK HOPING A NEW DAY WILL BRING SOME RELIEF. ALL YOU DO CDC & DEA IS MAKE IT WORSE FOR US. NO OTHER MEDICAL CONDITION WOULD BE TREATED IN SUCH A HORRIBLE WAY. THE ONLY REASON IT IS BEING ALLOWED TO BE DONE TO CHRONICALLY ILL IN CHRONIC PAIN IS BECAUSE YOU TOLD THE PUBLIC SO IN EVERY ACTION IN EVERY WORD YOU UTTER. WE HAVE NO VALUE WE ARE THE CAUSE OF THEIR ADDICTED LOVED ONE OR CAUSED THEIR LOVED ONES DEATH OF SUICIDE OR OVER DOSE. YOU THE CDC & DEA ARE KILLING PEOPLE AND EVEN MANAGED TO GET THE PUBLIC TO SUPPORT IT. YOU ALL CARRY EVERY DROP OF BLOOD OF EVERY PATIENT THAT O.D.’S OR COMMITS SUICIDE IS ON YOUR HANDS. YOU CDC & DEA ARE THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THE O.D. DEATHS AND SUICIDE DEATHS AND ALL THE PAIN & SUFFERING THAT OCCURS IN BETWEEN. I HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT I HOPE YOU CAN LIVE WITH THE FACT YOU CAUSED AND CONTINUED TO CAUSE THE DEATHS OF INNOCENT CHRONICALLY ILL PATIENTS ACROSS THE NATION AND DELIBERATELY CAUSED AND DELIBERATELY IGNORED OUR OUTCRY’S OUR PLEAS FOR JUSTICE TO STOP THE DISCRIMINATION.WAKE UP AMERICA THEY JUST STOPPED YOU FROM GETTING ANYTHING FOR PAIN TOO. TYLENOL & ADVIL AFTER SURGERY AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT AFTER ANYTHING PAY ATTENTION BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER ALSO.-

  87. Andre Dotseth on April 27, 2016 at 4:41 am

    Why don’t we just quit this silly war on drugs. We need to focus on crime and poverty and more important matters that effect the public like global warming and the economy. the poor and disadvantage in this country are suffering from mental illness and addiction and the war on drugs is just about as useless as tits on a bull. Our border patrol could probably be put to much better use like protect our freedom from terrorist. The national government thinks we are all completely incomprehensible at there mercy when it comes to the department of intelligence and sober living. Most of us are struggling for a decent meal and a roof over our heads. build more prisons and take away our right to vote and incarcerate the entire liberation and there will be no establishment. Who needs to relieve pain. I have given up on that panacea years ago.

  88. Curtis beames on May 4, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    I have just read alot of posts but not all I would say 80% I agree I have been on morphine for 12 years now in order to keep working and have a small amount of quality but I just got a boom she’ll dropped last month I have followed ALL of the rules every month like clock work now what do I do was raised to work hard and I like it but now do I go on or move on.

  89. Joseph on May 4, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    It’s this simple, I’ve been on oxycontin 30mg 5x a day and methadone 10mg 3x a day for about the last 5 years. I’ve been sick since I was 27, I’m 44 now and and on disability and in pain clinics on and off for all of those years. Currently, I’ve been going to a pain management clinic for 5 years, since my last surgery for every 3 months and on both of those last visits they’ve been hinting around the fact that they’d like to lower my pain meds. For me, this is simply not possible. I’ve got crohn’s disease, have had 7-8 surgeries, have had to resuscitated 3 times and have spent months in ICU and years in the hospital. I even had my family called in due to them not expecting me to make it through the night.

    Question – since when does the Center for Disease Control have authority over doctors? Sounds to me like they’re protecting their job (via budget allotments) at the expense of patients. If their sisters, children, husbands, parents and grandparents were in intractable pain perhaps their article would have been written much differently. If I had Ebola, I would gladly submit to the expertise of the CDC. I have Crohn’s disease. I seriously doubt they have an underground lab in Atlanta dedicated to the eradication of Crohn’s disease. If they do, fantastic. But my money says they don’t. Pain patients should march on the CDC since they seem to be in control of the policies handed down to our doctors in the name of preventing addiction, which is present in less than 90% of patients.

    Should your doctor cut off your pain medicine, it’s simple, either put a bullet through your head with a letter already in the mail to your senator, your doctor, and the CDC. The second option is a Methadone clinic. In Alabama, they’ll take you up to 140 mg pretty quickly. 140 would bring cattle to it’s knees.

    As for you, Dr. Webster, you should be ashamed of yourself. Advocating that people should be taken off their pain medicine when you have never looked at their charts. I can only hope that you or your child should be in intractable pain and the Doctor says, sorry, she’ll just have to suffer. Try Tylenol. That’s what you told him to give him patients, of whom, 50% have committed suicide in the last year. Nobody wants to die, but as for me, on more than one occasion, I’ve had a pistol to my head. Had it not been for my children, 17 and 20 currently, whom I never get to see, they’re not around any more.

    So, Ms. Webster, you’ll be personally responsible for many, many suicides due to intractable pain. It’s entirely possible that one will be mine.

    Have a nice day ? I’m sure your memo has already started the suicides or at least begun many heroin and methadone habits. Good luck, as you have no conscience whatsoever, perhaps you have empathy for your family who I’m sure has been going to the MD for pain management.
    You just don’t seem to get it. It’s the few causing problems for the many. I sincerely hope your life is filled with misery, pain and misfortune.

  90. 62 on May 4, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    Hi my name is Elaine and would like to get some helpful information. I have been treated for extreme pain issues since 1994. 31 surgeries and 95% of the doctors through my struggle helped me.

    Last Doctor who treated me did so with respect for the patient! She would keep me on the right amount of pain medications! She never forced me to do anything, if it effects my daily life. When I moved, all hell broke out with my pain medications.

    Now for the first time in my life Pain clinic here is forcing me to drop every month no matter how I feel, until I reach their demanded limit. When I tell them this is too fast, they refuse to listen! I lost 4 days of work because of this treatment.

    I’m 62 years old who has nobody in my life who can protect and care for me. My husband progressively abused me financially over the course of 9 years. He finally left me for another women and stole all my savings last year 77,000– I work full time and never once committed a crime in my life! Not even a speeding ticket.

    Why do they punish people like myself? I need medical treatment without limitations, the DEA is causing me more physical torment. And I now fear losing work and ending up on the streets with pain.

    These pain “Management” clinics do not Manage. They demand no matter how much suffering comes your way.

  91. Sandy on May 7, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    So, it is not okay to lose someone to heroin overdose, but it is okay to lose someone to suicide that has legitimate pain issues. I personally know 2 people that recently took their lives.

    I sit here in agony because my sadistic, unfeeling doctor refused to re-fill my pain meds after being on them for 10 years. I have Scoliosis, DDD, non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy, degenerative nerve disease, chronic migraines, RSD, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome..and recently diagnosed with RA, Sjogren’s and lupus. Oh, plus I have atrial fibrillation with tachycardia, 2 heart murmers..which are new..Mitral Valve a Prolapse, and an enlarged heart muscle. So I guess I don’t have enough pain issues to be allowed to take pain meds. My heart goes out to EVERY chronic pain patient that is going through the agony of withdrawal, not wanting to live, only being told “oh, once you’re through withdrawal, you’ll feel better.” Oh how I wish this on the DEA and my state’s government. They are even starting new, even more strict laws
    I am scared to death that I am going to die…my heart is really acting up due to this withdrawal. I told my family and friends if something happens to me, that sadistic doctor and the DEA is the reason. I’m sorry if some of you aren’t religious, but please dear God, help us!! Someone please help us!!

  92. Melissa on May 17, 2016 at 2:43 pm

    I don’t have time to read all of the comments…but I have to mention the fact that this causes me more time off of work, more co-pays yearly (and I find it WRONG for me have to pay for co-pays when the visits are mandated by the DEA-not requested by myself!)…and more trips to the pharmacy to drop off the physical prescription and then return for the meds. I feel it is very wrong and illegal in my mind…costing ME more money, time, and fuel to pay for something I never have done in my LIFE (abuse or sell my medication). I know I’ve gone through enough surgery, phys.therapy, injections, etc etc to remove all doubt from my physicians-the ones who know me and have treated me for over 10 years.

  93. shelley on May 21, 2016 at 7:15 am

    This makes it hard on people like me. Im 23 years old and I have a broken vertebrae in my lower back from a car wreck. Im in pain managment i have been for over a year and they keep twlling me they will not proscribe me any medication because i am to young.i have chronic pain. I lay in by bed and do not get yp unless I have to. It hurts to move and yet I can not get any help. Does any one know how we can fix this.

  94. Michele on May 23, 2016 at 1:45 pm

    In light of the DEA setting restrictions of patients with chronic pain conditions, is in violation of our privacy. I have become a criminal instead of a patient. Being denied my prescribed pain medication has lead me to going to the streets. Why pay insurance any more. What good is it, if they too don’t defend their consumer. The medical and insurance companies will eventually start falling apart, while the ones in pain are left with no other alternative but to turn to what the government is trying to prevent; “Drug marketing” on the streets. This is only going to make the street market richer and people relying less on physicians. I myself will to what ever it takes to keep my pain under control. I’m 52 and will do whatever I need too. Its the physicians and insurance companies that are going to lose in the long run. Drug crimes will become more and more on the upscale.

  95. Legs on May 24, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    After having the same PCP for 15 years, I had to find a new one because mine lied to me last summer and said that because of new governmental regulations, he could no longer prescribe the small quantity of Demerol I have used for the last 15 years..I used between 8-10 tablets a month and used whatever he gave me whenever I had dental work or surgery as well as for my 50 year long chronic pain. I never had this medicine prescribed by anyone but him. He did however, give me a prescription for Fentanyl. I was told I would have to have that medication prescribed to me a pain management specialist, but five of them declined to even see me since I would not consent to having steroid injections. (I have had dozens of those over the years and found them to be remarkably ineffective) My pharmacist said I was not a candidate for fentanyl as my narcotic use was so limited and sporadic. Every other pain medication I have ever used has made me break out for days or weeks with hives..last time I ended up at the ER and had hives for TWO MONTHS. And no sooner than they started to go away, I broke out with shingles. Again. I don’t even know why I am repeating this story as no one cares. There are so many stories like mine. At least I am lucky enough to be allergic to everything else, so I guess if it gets too bad, I can at least go to an ER after paying my “affordable health care ” 600 dollar co-pay and ask for a morphine shot..supposedly that will kill me if I ever have it again.

  96. N on May 25, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    I have been on the same dosage of Lortab for 32 years. The dosage has always worked and I never needed to take more and more to achieve a so called high. As a matter of fact, I don’t take them when I don’t need them and have never experienced a so called withdrawal. I was originally on 10/500 until it was decided that you can’t have more than 325mg of Tylenol by prescription, yet you can get 500mg of Tylenol over the counter. Odd. I have an extremely debilitating cranial nerve disorder which involves every cranial nerve on the right side of my head. I have tried absolutely everything known to treat this and non of it worked. Then again, my disorder is known amongst the neurological community as the suicide disease. I have even had brain surgery to relieve the pressure of blood vessels that were pressing on these nerves to no avail. When your body has seizures due to pain and your body is a fight or flight response that also causes foaming at the mouth all you want is to die as your body is very well aware that there is no getting out of this pain. I am currently taking several anti-seizure meds that only help somewhat. In addition I am on a tricyclic anti-depressant, a muscle relaxer, a benzodiazepine and anti-nausea meds. . However, there are times when I must have a narcotic to disconnect from the pain. So, for all of you that think you know what you are talking about – you truly do not. This doctor does know what she is speaking of. I understand there is an addiction problem, but I am not one of them and I am not dependent on hydrocodone. I have gone months without taking them with no ill effects (up to three years) when my condition has gone into what is known as spontaneous remission. I should add that there have been times where I have had to be injected with Demerol and phenegran to knock me out to get me through the episode alive. I have been injected with morphine. I have had tens unit therapy (made the condition worse). There is no such thing as meditation when your head thinks someone is pulling out your nerves. It is impossible. I have also had nerve blocks which make the condition worse when they wear off as anything containing epinephrine which constricts the blood vessels makes the pain ten times worse. I never experienced withdrawal and I never exhibited the signs of an addict. If one was to look at my medical record, they would be horrified with what I have attempted to live with. To hurt people who truly need this medicine, meaning the benefit outweighs the risks is just plain wrong. Walk one day in my shoes (most people can’t and commit suicide) and you will understand. I also have osteoarthritis, as wells a floating hip which dislocates, a torn meniscus in the knee and a severe lower back injury. The pain of these other ailments do not compare to what my cranial neuralgia does. So much so that I have had surgeries and refused pain meds to the surprise of the doctors. In addition, I had a C-section to deliver my daughter and sat up two hours after the procedure. My OBGYN was so shocked by this that he filmed it. Again, I refused pain meds because it was a cake walk next to what I live with. I also want to point out that I am not suicidal unless I end up in severe pain from the cranial neuralgia and have no recourse to get out of it. There is something very wrong when your government gets involved in your medical care and overrides what your neurosurgeon and neurologist prescribe, despite the evidence of the need for that medication. I also know three people from my neuralgia support group that have committed suicide while in the throws of this kind of pain because they were denied the medication they needed to combat the pain. I guess the disabled have no right to live in the name of saving people from abusing the drug. Where are just trading one life for another. Maybe if parents actually knew what their were doing and parents taught there children, we wouldn’t need to hurt those that really do need this medication. And, I still wonder why no one is suing perdue pharma for lying about oxycodone/cotin. We went after the cigarette companies for this. Perhaps those who hove lost a loved-one to opiod abuse should be suing predue. There was no national epidemic of opiod abuse until oxy was introduced to the market as a safe non-addictive medication. As a matte of fact, 5mg of oxy is three to four times more powerful than 10mg of hydro. I have always refused oxy as it is just too much medication for what I need. If Tylenol and motrin and other otc meds worked I would not need the hydrocodone. My point, before you rebut claiming this doctor has no clue what she is writing about, I suggest you learn about every type of pain condition out there as it is a myth to think that 5 to 10 mg of opiod should be reserved for those that are dying. There are conditions that are just as painful as a fatal disorder/disease but actually are not life threatening. However, the physiological response to that pain can be life-threatening as the older one gets, the more likely they are to have a heart attack or stroke from the uncontrollable extreme fight or flight response that cannot be helped with meditation, biofeedback, food, exercise, etc. It is as if you were just hit by a car or shot in the head with a gun. Go ahead and meditate through that. Let me know if it works for ya.

  97. Michael on May 26, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    I found this thread by accident while trying to find answers about my future with the current war on legitimate chronic pain sufferers.

    I remember the days I’d come from the dentist after an extraction with a prescription for 5ml. Hydrocodone/aka, VicOden

  98. Michael on May 26, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    I found this thread by accident while searching for answers on what I can look forward to as time goes on, pain gets worse and laws get strict to a point that I am now petrified as to what could happen.
    I remember getting a small prescription of 5ml. Hydrocodone from the dentist after an extraction. 6 to 12 tablets maximum and a day or two later, I have a bottle sitting in the cabinet with half the small amount left saving it for a time I might need it. I usually would end up tossing them out.
    I wish with everything I have to be able to be at that place again.
    I have documentation through MRI’s, CT scans, ultrasound, ex rays , you name it and have injuries in my neck, shoulder, spine, lumbar sprain and ruptured discs with nerv pain added.
    I am scared to death I will be dropped from the paim medication

  99. Lori on May 30, 2016 at 1:38 am

    Consider this alarming truth: everyday, more people die from suicide (about 43,000) than from opioid-related causes. AND, doctors kill over 1,000 patients every single day just from medical mistakes. Nearly 88,000 people die each year from alcohol related deaths making it the 4th leading cause of preventable death in America – almost 10,000 of those deaths are from alcohol related auto accidents (accounts for 31% of all auto fatalities. 100,000 Americans die each year from their prescription medicines. This statistic does not include mistakes by doctors or pharmacists, only for deadly side effects when the patient takes their prescription correctly. Medical errors are now the 3rd leading cause of American deaths coming in at 250,000 deaths per year. From the CDC’s website, 14,000 people died from an opioid overdose death that involved a prescription opioid. This is called perspective. Yes, recreational opiod abuse is a crisis in America. However, combining chronic pain patients in with recreational user death statistics is misleading at best!

    Since the CDC (and DEA) condoned and legalized the torture of chronic pain patients, doctors and other drug-war advocates have been shouting “alternative treatments” from the rooftops. Sometimes, I think there are more alternative and off-label treatments for pain than those actually based in medical science. (Anti-depressants come to mind.) But the fact of the matter is that opioids are currently the cheapest and most successful treatment for pain. Another fact is that only a small percentage of the population will suffer from addiction, and an even smaller percentage will suffer from a drug overdose. And an even smaller percentage of those will die from a drug overdose. All these rules and regulations for thousands of people, when chronic pain affects tens of millions? This is called the drug war. The FAILED drug war.

    Now the government and the medical industry are discriminating against different types of pain, but not against cancer or terminal pain. (After all, who in their right mind would suffer through cancer treatment without painkillers?) And where are the studies that show cancer pain is different than other types of chronic pain? This is called blatant discrimination.

    Sign this contract taking away all your rights as a patient. Pee in a cup. Come in at a moment’s notice so we can count your pills. Add your name to a government watch list/database. Pay cash because your insurance has decided it won’t cover your preferred treatment. Downsize yet again. Having to find another doctor after the DEA raids your pain clinic (yes, they have raided legitimate doctor’s offices – not pill mills – just because they felt they were writing too many pain RX’s), your doctor stops prescribing pain medications, or your doctor retires or passes away. Travelling to another state to find a doctor who will treat you. Being abandoned by your doctor and forced into a cold-turkey detox, an almost-successful suicide attempt, and a future of no pain relief. This is the life of a chronic pain patient.

    • Stormynw on December 10, 2017 at 3:23 am

      Sadly it has now come to a point where even if you are literally dying of cancer You cannot get opioids. I have a friend in the very last stages, dying of cancer and he could not get ANY medication because the doctors and pharmacists are terrified of losing their licenses. The ONLY way he was able to get help was through Hospice. Evidently they have the ability to oversee opioid use for pain in a person’s last days. What a disgusting way for the government to treat its citizens.

  100. Judith Bruno on May 30, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    Please start asking some real questions like are any drug addicts no longer abusing drugs with these policies because we know that Prohibition does not work? The country is so concerned over the raise in heroin addiction and you will find, if you really look, that the raise is directly connected to these policies because if a drug addict can’t get the pills they want, they will and are turning to heroin and now our government is supporting the Drug Cartels who will get a drug addict anything they want just as the “Mob’s” did for alcohol. Did we learn nothing from history?

    Why is the life of a drug addict more important than the lives of those who are in pain? Why are politicians acting as doctors in the decisions of what is the best way to treat us?

    Mothers can no longer care for their children and bread winners no longer able to support their families. Who is going to pay for that care and where will that money come from? Who is going to care for those like myself who strive to stay independent and live within the boundaries of our disabilities but can no longer do so without the pain relief we need?

    Health Care in this country is going to fail under these policies and it must when doctors refuse to take on patients who are in pain, clinic are closing and good doctors can no longer treat their patients in the way they know is best without fear of prosecution? Who are they going to blame for this? Obama Care? Someone must be blamed for the failure of our health care system to deal with those who are in pain.

    Chronic Pain is a disability and we are being discriminated against because of those who will and do abuse drugs just like any religion or race who is discriminated against because of the actions of a few. We need someone to stand for us, talk about us, do something for us in this losing war on drugs.

    We are told that 13% of Veteran’s abuse drugs but what about the 87% who need relief from pain and now can’t get that relief? Chronic Pain can and does kill and those who can no longer deal with a life in pain 24/7 will take their own lives and Veterans are the most vulnerable after the horrors of war. America makes these Veterans and makes the pain they now live with and yet we are turning our backs on them and telling them there is nothing we can do for the pain they are in.

    Why aren’t pain patients given the same rights as others to decide what is the best care for their problems? Politics needs to stay out of our relationship between our doctors and the care we need.

    Please do your jobs, do it right, look into the problems these policies are making that no one will talk about because of the fear of supporting drug addicts but we are NOT drug addicts, we are patients who need help.

    Please look into the politics of all of this as we know the reasons behind this attack on pain medications after losing the war on Marijuana, which will become legal in this country, in order to validate their existence and the billions of dollars wasted in this losing war on drugs are now attacking those who are in pain. Look into the big pharmacies and the fight against them and yes, they need to be held responsible for never finding cures but only drugs that mask the symptoms to make more money but taking all of this out on those who’s only sin is that they are in pain, is not the right way to fight any of these injustices.

    Please, think of the quality of life of those who are suffering in pain and think of your families, your parents, your children and how you would feel if they were suffering in pain and told there is nothing that can be done.

    Help us, help the millions of American’s both Veterans and civilians alike who are actually being tortured because of these policies. Please look at all sides of this war on drugs and the dangers of drug abuse but remember, there are millions of us who need relief from our pain. They can’t fix the problems, can’t give us what we need to live with any kind of quality of life without the pain medications that are available so why are they torturing us?

  101. michele on June 2, 2016 at 2:52 am

    I can’t belive there are so many people out there like me. In chronic pain with a new issue every year. I had some issues in my 20’s but in my mid 40’s, everything started downhill and fast. Unsuccessful neck surgeries, leaving me which permanent nerve damage in my neck all the way to my fingers on my right side. If my fentenyl patch falls off, it feels like a car is crushing my arm. I also have chronic fatigue and fiber myalgia. The arthritis I have is developing at a very fast pace. I neek a new knee, my right foot is a mess from 5 nuroma surgeries that didn’t work so it feels like electrical shocks. my left foot is making it hard to walk and It is so painful. I’ve had at least 10 surgeries, now no one will operate because I don’t heal. And they want to take my medicine away! I am in pain with the meds without it, I can’t bear the pain. I need to do something but I don’t know where to begin. what can I do before it’s too late?

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  105. JRIVER on June 4, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    I found this post so informative. I am writing this reply with tears on my eyes. I am a male 41 years old who suffered a car accident back in 2004 who worked till 2008 in pain, nearly falling while getting from my office chair not knowing that I had a broken disc. It wasn’t until beginning of 2008 when i knew something was wrong with me and my pain. I got to find a great doctor, who read my MRI and couldn’t believe I work for nearly 4 years with broken spine I had. i was so happy I did find him because I couldn’t take it anymore, treatment started, I got the injection, only giving me pain relieve for 1 to 2 weeks at the time only. While signing the documents for a discogram, my back give up to me, letting in pain, on which they were going to stop the test. I beg them to please continue. I let them know, “do you see me?”, “this is how I spend my days, in pain, unable to move” “I want the test done today”.

    They did the test and find out the exact location of my issue, and set up an appointment for my surgery. I had a disc replacement surgery, unfortunately the surgery wasn’t 100% successful, Although I am able to stand, and walk for a while, I can’t do my daily chores with out feeling that knife staving chock in my back, with my sciatica pain at day and night that cant let me sleep.

    Only my medications provide me a little relieve, so that I can go to the bathroom, go out and breath fresh air, but can’t push myself to walk a lot, neither iron my clothes or dishes.

    I find it so easy for people who doesn’t understand about chronic pain or even a back injury to make fun or mistreat people who take pain medication. My pharmacy knows me since I move here, and suddenly they started harassing me and treating me like a drug addict or a criminal. it has become very very stressful, specially since my Doctor of many years quit her job, and now I have to deal with a younger than me doctor who does believe I don’t need medications, and even told me that if i wanted to continue be treated by the hospital I needed to give my medications. You can imagine how I toke that.

    This issue has brought more stress to me even suicide thoughts, as there is my word agains a professional who is expecting me to jump hoops for him, just so he doesn’t have to prescribe pain medications. If I knew that being a doctor and making so much money just by swiping people insurance card, I would had gone to medical school. A doctor is not a doctor just, to get pay or council a patient, a doctor is someone who care for people on anyways, including and defending the patients needs at all time. But I believe how some doctors don’t have the vocation for it, they just want to get pay for an easy job. remind me of lawyers! how they know expect the client to do all the work for them.

  106. Jack M. on June 5, 2016 at 1:24 am

    Social Security determined I am completely disabled. The VA has evaluated me with a service connected disability. I was REFUSED pain meds from the local VA clinic MD. He equated long term pain meds with performing abortions. He did not “believe” in doing either. Being male, what was the abortion quip about?
    I have been seeing an anesthesiologist & Fellow in Academy Of Pain Medicine, MD. for almost 10 years and saw him EVERY month for original schedule 2 medicine prescriptions but with the paperwork and low reimbursement schedule, he dropped all Medicare/Medicaid patients. To see him now costs $150 cash only per visit. With only Soc Sec dis. income I couldn’t see him again. My PCP was only able to get me 3 mo pain meds before he would be in trouble with state & fed authorities. Got records from Pain & PCP docs and left state. I have systemic osteoarthritis, Reiter’s Syndrome and lupus. Why should a Washington bean counter decide on my medical treatment? My VA hospital is now an 82 mile trip in EACH direction. Some times I get mileage compensation for VA hospital visits and other times NOTHING. This whole DEA is a major clusterf*ck. Addiction is NOT a criminal problem but a MEDICAL problem. Portugal decriminalized their drug addicts and determined they are ILL Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Weed, cocaine, heroin, you name it —
    Portugal decided to treat possession and use of small quantities of these drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal, of course. That’s why so few die from overdose. But now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program — not jail time and a criminal record. DEA is a BILLION dollar BUSINESS. When big money is involved no one wants to decriminalize anything who are getting the money!

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  111. John Sheffield on June 8, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    It is a bad time for chronic pain suffers. Three disk and vertebrae in my back look like mesh soup from a 25 year injury and had worked up to a 20 mg oxycodone prescription, which I admit was a little more than I needed perhaps however because of the DEA crackdown on doctors my doctor high tailed it with only a 30 day notice and left all his patients looking blindly for help. I found a practitioner who cut me down to 10 mg, which was fine for my pain but after 4 months she high tailed it. I then went to the VA as a vet and they cut me down to 5 mg which was still ok but left me in some pain to deal with, but then that doctor high tailed it and I was cit off and set up for steroid injections which made it almost impossible to walk and still in chronic pain. I have been to about 40 doctors who will not give any narcotics or help me with pain and the VA says they no longer prescribe short term, as they call it meds for long term treatments. The only alternative is up all night in pain until sleep overcomes you, become an alcoholic, or shoot yourself.

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  113. Anonymous on June 10, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    1. I’ve noticed a huge percentage of this pain is caused iatrogenically; via surgery, doctors, or medical intervention

    2. These new medical interventions – ablations, shots, steroids, nerve blocks, seem to be causing MORE iatrogenic pain than before the treatment. And the number of errors taking place on these is abominable. It is invasive and wrong. (Opiates are actually the least intrusive solution to these chronic problems)

    3. Tramadol may be called an opiate by most but it is a weak opiate with strong serotenergic properties. Don’t kid yourself, it is more addictive than real opiates

    4. The trend is going to be substituting psych drugs for pain drugs. Don’t fall for it. I work on a forum which strives to help people overcome the horrible withdrawal symptoms induced by these drugs. Opiate withdrawal is horrible, I don’t deny that at all. Psych drug withdrawal – including the ones they GIVE for pain – Cymbalta, Lyrica, you name it – is far worse, and in the meanwhile, if you have chronic pain – you are getting no pain relief at all. Furthermore, they are happy to tell you that your Cymbalta and Lyrica are “drugs for life” but fail to note how many suicides and deaths these drugs cause. And there are no long term studies indicating the efficacy of them in long term.

    5. OTC’s: Aspirin and NSAIDS are guilty of starting prescription cascade: it starts with NSAIDs, your stomach starts to bleed, they add PPI. Your stomach acid is disrupted, you get depressed or anxious – they add psych drugs. Psych drugs mess up your cholesterol, give you diabetes and metabolic syndrome – you end up on statins (even more depression), diabetes and blood pressure medication.

    6. How many of the deaths from use of these drugs was from bleeding or kidney failure from the bundled NSAID or liver damage from the acetominophen? How many suicides are from the horrible akathisia induced by psych drugs?

    7. By the time you get to hospital, you are a mess. All of this is documented in Arman P. Neel Jr’s excellent book, “Are Your Prescriptions Killing You?”

    8. The trend to street drugs is increasing the cases of AIDS, as these people are sharing needles in my home state of Indiana – a new AIDS epidemic has broken out in Southern Indiana. Granted, these people are addicts, but by treating them like criminals instead of like patients, they are driven to desperate measures.

    9. We, as patients, should have the freedom to choose whether a drug messes with our brains or our livers, kills our pain or our emotions. INFORMED CONSENT and FIRST DO NO HARM should be the driving forces of our medical care, not corporate profits and bizarre political motivations. This is a campaign against the poor and the elderly. Welcome to Gated America.

  114. Anonymous on June 13, 2016 at 11:59 am

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  115. Anonymous on June 18, 2016 at 2:57 am

    Ineffective pain management causes further loss of function, loss of cognitive skills, and loss of mobility. Until enough people step up to the plate and make their voices heard, this political ambush on chronic pain patients will continue. The CDC, FDA, and DEA need to concentrate on getting the drug cartels out of the country and have better things to do than to take the pain medication away from functioning disabled and seriously ill citizens, which will cause him or her to immediately decline and spend the rest of their life in painful misery. At this point, many people are reduced to 50% reduction, but when they get cut completely, it’s going to be a sad state of affairs for the ill, disabled, and elderly. To pretend our lives don’t matter is downright unforgiving. I hope the lawsuits start to hit the States quickly. Every suicide due to non-existent or ineffective pain control is on their watch. For anyone whose meds were cut, if you fail to lead the same quality of life as you did before the reduction, tell your doctor immediately. This is a matter of right and wrong. The government’s “fishnet” attempt at the war against heroin has only resulted in pain, suffering, and loss of lives for our citizens. All pharmacy drugs are now sent to a central database, so why don’t they not concern themselves with our medical health – let’s leave that to our doctors. Go after the drug dealers, feds.

  116. Anonymous on June 19, 2016 at 3:15 am

    I have decided that I am just done with the medical establishment. especially here in South Carolina. I have been battling for years just to get an accurate diagnosis. I know I have had several extruded discs, I know I have some form of arthritis. I don’t believe in shots into my spine or joints and I have simply fled when that was presented as a viable option. I don’t get any pharmaceutical pain meds at all. I was offered many poisons and did try a few with bad results. Now I eat kratom and I must say it is better than any NSAID but not as good as general anesthesia. I spend most of my time in bed because I can’t sit for longer than 20 minutes a day-and this is 20 minutes added up all day. Reclining sucks too, but it isn’t as awful as sitting. I save my pain tolerance abilities for my little job I do six nights a week, for a couple of hours. I was getting around pretty well walking, but now my feet have decided to be bad with swellings and such terrible pain! My walking is now mostly saved for my little night job, and for those occasional times when I have to fill an order for my own little business. So, I don’t do much, and I don’t go near the doctors anymore because they did nothing for me. I can completely understand anyone that feels like just ending it, because I often feel that way too. My children keep me hanging around. They need me and love me, even though I am diminished and chronically crabby. I recently had to have my good old dog put to sleep because she had developed a rapid and terrible cancer along with lupus, and I hate to admit it but I was jealous of the relief I saw in her eyes as she relaxed in my lap and crossed her rainbow bridge. I wish that when my job is done, and my daughters have all reached adulthood, that I too might be gently sent across the rainbow bridge with a nice intravenous cocktail. This summer, my youngest daughter will be 11. I have to endure 7 more years. Somehow, I have to stick it out for at least 7 more years. I have considered trying to find some heroin and then making some sort of elixir out of it. I don’t know if such a thing could work and I don’t like people that use and abuse illegal drugs (and alcohol for that matter) because they usually have all sorts of nasty character flaws, but I’m desperate enough to contemplate such things. A bit of a stronger elixir would come in handy for the times when my tolerated dose of kratom doesn’t provide sufficient easment. I have also considered self immolation as a final protest right in front of the DEA headquarters or some prestigious hospital. Of course, this isn’t going to happen. It’s too far of a journey, and I’m certain that dying like that would be horrid and seem like forever. I don’t have whatever it takes to act on such a musing! I have also considered self anesthesia with ether or nitrous oxide. Ether is highly flammable and nitrous oxide may be found in several places. The trick is getting the ratio right for relief without prematurely crossing the rainbow bridge, or a dreadful headache on top of it all. I’ll most likely wait 7 more years before I get seriously into the self anesthesia experiments. That way, if I get it too strong and too wrong, I wont be leaving behind any minor children. If it works, I’ll share freely and clandestinely with all that desire relief!

  117. Marie on June 22, 2016 at 3:45 am

    I saw a pain management specialist two years ago. From day one I told him that I could not take any narcotics of any kind because of severe digestive issues. He treated my pain with alternative methods i.e.: cortisone injections, botox injections, radio frequency ablation etc. At every visit his front desk staff would tell me that they needed a urine sample. I always asked why since he did not write any prescriptions for any medications for me. They told me that all patients of his had to take the test. Flash forward to December 15′ when I received my first bill from his office. Each urine screening is almost $300 and I took 4 tests. I can understand the initial test for him screening me however, after two years of seeing him and never asking once for a single pain medication I do not feel that I should be held financially responsible for the other tests. This is aggravating my pain stressing about this bill and I feel helpless and don’t know where I can turn to. I have left messages for their billing department and they never return my calls, they just sent me a letter today threatening legal action if I don’t pay the $1200. Does anyone have any idea who I can contact or call for help with this?

  118. MARGARET on June 23, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    My sister died 3 days after the doctors informed her there was nothing they could do to get her out of pain. That was after the quacks broke off a bar in her shoulder and upper armbone, and couldn’t get it out. The pain resulted in her losing the will to live. I myself have been made to feel like a drug seeking junky. I have severe fibromyalgia, and RA. My body response to medication are little to a lot. Much like every body else. I feel the truth come to me today. For the DEA, it’s easier to control law abiding citizens that a criminal who cares less what they think. Like gun control, only he law abiding citizen with be affected, the criminals will always have guns and Hydrocodone, Oxicotin etc,etc,……

  119. Gtaylor on June 24, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    After reading these posts, I truly have empathy for all of you but getting on this site and trashing everyone and their experiences does nothing for anyone. As many have noted, we are all different as are the treatments. I am a 75 year old woman who spent my life working for the government and an avid equestrian. I have been hit by a car while riding, 9 concussions resulting in epilepsy, seizures, broken back and pelvis leaving me with CTE and numerous serious back problems. I have no family…i deal with it and if a doctor is no good dump him or her…so far I still have the mental capacity to say yes or no…my advice is stop your whining and get a good doctor and follow their instructions…but after reading all of this it is a wonder you get any drugs all because you all sound like addicts, making it difficult for those in their right mind…and I will advise others to stay off this site.

  120. Anonymous on June 28, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    Legalize everything and let the natural order of things work itself out. We are but a TAX ID number; that is all.
    The DEA is retarded and can’t do anything but pass bogus laws that make both the patient and the doctors(secretaries) lives more miserable. FTWDAMFS
    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
    Why produce opiates and all that if you make it impossible to get? And why is it the stuff that usually helps doesn’t get prescribed? THE DEA. Fuck government agencies as a whole.

  121. Brett H. on July 2, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    The media needs to be regulated. The issue is that “Freedom of Speech” is most often times commented on by people who think they know what life should be like for everyone in the world. 100 million people are in chronic pain daily. A percentage of them are Pain Management patients. 30000 people died in 2015 of drug overdoses and that is .03 percent of people in pain. And I fudged the numbers UP a bit. Every year more people are in the United States regardless of the studies done. Many people lost their homes, income, money and insurance due to Congress and the Banks failing. The Party animals ruin pain managment for quite alot of people also people that are in pain are in constant torment and some end their suffering. Another issue is people in today’s Society have NO COMPASSION FOR ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES.

    I am on pain mangement daily I take Fentanyl 75 mcg patch every 3 days and two 30 mg oxycondone instants a day taken at the same time daily. I have low back pain from an old plumbing injury, mid back pain from Polands Syndrome from my spine twisting due to lack of body symmetry, right shoulder and arm pain, arthritis of the spine and Fibromyalgia. My Fibromyalgia is what started my look for pain mangement. At 32 I felt the first flare and at 40 I couldnt stand the pain anymore. I can also say Lyrica 75 mg x 3 a day and Tizandine x 4 a day combo is amazing and without it I would be taking much more opiates.

    I keep hearing stories from idiots that they took a Fentanyl patch at a party because my back was really hurting and I had a drink and it was really hot outside and I could barely talk. This is the kind of behavior that leads to dead people. Don’t give your pain pills, patches or pops to anyone. If someone else is in pain tell them to hit the doctors office. Opiate tollerance takes years to build. I know this guy is an addict because he asked me for Oxy before and I said no. And he told me this Fentanyl story and it started at a party. This is why I have to stand in line hours at the Hospital and go to the doctor every month. Because of people like this. And another thing all these doctor visits drain my bank account and keep me poor. Thanks party idiots I appreciate all you have done for me and will continue to do for me. Thanks DEA for making my doctors visits into hell instead of coming up with better ways to regulate medications that doesnt involve denial. Lastly thank you greedy drug companies that when you lose your customer base raise rates at an astronomical rate which also causes Heroin overdoes because Insurances will no longer cover the medicatioin because of price. Thank you for my pain management doctor who has traveled with me these last 9 years and helped me LIVE.

    Most of you that think you know what pain management is about are sorely under educated on the subject. Pain management is not about getting high. It is about taking the edge off the pain and taking as little as possible so the patient can function in society. And some of us are under medicated because of the DEA and their sloppy handling and understanding of what is going on. Grow a spine people and speak out for OUR rights!

  122. Kevin on July 3, 2016 at 9:36 am

    Unfortunate, I’d advise every patient to seek an attorney before signing a contract now. If low on funds, go to legal aid. If at all possible, see a constitutional attorney since Tennessee has run a muck & it’s harming patients much more than doctors now. DEA regulations are insane, the war on drugs failed long ago but TN takes it further with actual illegal type contracts based on what they think are State laws that do not match with Constitution so really, seek legal advice first before signing anything.

    Here are some examples of problem questions”

    Do you know anyone who has addiction problem? That is anonymous if one is in AA or NA so it’s not their business!

    Are you seeking legal advice at this time? That’s going way past workman’s comp questions & must be noted as client/attorney privilege and a patient may NOT be dismissed or not allowed in for saying so or refusing to answer that or above question.

    Have you ever been convicted of a crime or arrested? This is another problem because drug convictions of the past might be needed info since of a possibe trend but going past the last 10 years of an older patient over age 50 is insanity. What if one had a DUI at age 21? That’s not relevant? What if someone when young stole something from a store, was arrested, never got in trouble again? Not relevant to this. If someone has been doing things wrong in last 5-10 years, that needs to be known yes.

    Of course they should search database to ensure patient is not obtaining drugs from other doctors in other States so that’s a good question & screen.

    Drug testing is tricky. There are both false negatives and positives so to act as if those are infallible is very tricky. An ill patient is not metabolizing the same way so if they took OTC med & it comes back the wrong way, they are punished for no good reason. This is very tricky area here however; getting to know how the patient’s system works can rule things out but that takes time & go from there.

    The day is coming when all contracts on this will be illegal once we go with Portugal type plan and clean the mess up but for now, hold your constitutional grounds & never let a doctor dismiss you if they RXed over time large amounts of given drugs by cutting you off cold since that could harm or even kill you. File suit but do it under constitutional law and get a class action going to make the pressure so intense on doctors who now feel they have plenty of smart attorneys so they have no liability that when you take a few bad ones down it sends the message, we are not tolerating it anymore. I am in process of doing just that right now after how I was treated and am very ill. My family will finish it if I should not survive. I’ve never even used an illegal drug as a kid once. I have a good background but they have put me through the mill & I have called IRS, DEA and boy is it coming down soon on a given place in TN. A doctor is going to end in prison for tax evasion when I get done and will be drug tested as will all those in the group at an unexpected time. I know what’s going on and going to put an end to it so the patients get care elsewhere in quality care! If anyone can do it I can and it will then go to class action after I take my millions from the SOB.

    They are trying to set me up in new pain management with his friend as a setup but they have no clue I know and what will happen there too if they dare attempt to mess with me. I am too old and too sick to tolerate it. I will use every legal resource to bring them all down.

    Plenty online for doctors to protect themselves but little for patients. My book will be out soon & if doctors can’t stand the heat, get out of the business for we are all coming in legally strong!

  123. Jody Beasley on July 7, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    I’m a forty-seven year old disabled veteran of the Persian Gulf War, I was diagnosed with a platelet disorder in 1990 and in 1995, I was diagnosed with having Bi-lateral avascular necrosis. For twenty-one years, I’ve suffered with chronic debilitating pain in both of my hips and I’ve gradually lost the ability to stand or even walk. The chronic pain has caused other health problems: Depression; anxiety; sleep issues; sexual issues; and excessive weight gain. Because of my platelet disorder, I can not take NSAIDS which work great for reducing inflammation and Tylenol barely touches the pain even when taking the maximum daily dose of 3,000 mg. This doesn’t leave me with many options, but to take opiods to relieve my suffering. I agree that most patients including myself were started on too high a dose of opiods or had them increased high too soon, but for medical personnel to claim that opiods do not help with pain, but cause pain is absurd to say the least. In 2015, my PCP at the VA decided to jump on the band wagon with everyone else and cut me off cold turkey leaving me to suffer horrible with drawls and debilitating pain, he offered nothing but NSAIDS and antidepressants claiming that opiods don’t really work to control pain. Easy for him to say, he’s not the one suffering. If we had other medications that actually worked to control pain, I could see stopping the use of opiods, but we don’t as of yet have these wonderful new medications. I agree that there’s an epidemic of drug addicts, but we’ve been fighting a war on drugs since the sixties with no great results. Now, we’re hurting the very people who need these drugs just to live a normal life and who gives a damn if we become addicts if it gives us relief from our suffering and allows for us to have some sense of a normal life?

  124. Theresa Brown on July 7, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    Now Purdue Pharma who make oxycontin, now make a new long lasting hydrocodone which has something in it to keep the druggies from getting their buzz on. And they change the name so that can get a new patent and charge whatever they want to again, $500.+ more per month. Of course your pain dr has to ask for an app, ( in my case because I have no ins. ) I even had the Dr off. Request the app. Twice and good old Purdue said they never got that request. But we really need to put those druggies health first, never mind people who are excruciating pain. Besides you can’t soo all back pain , lupus, fibromyalgia,arthritis and so many things. Because to the naked eye you can’t see it. It’s about time we stand up for our rights. They are taking them one by one. I’m tired of them making us feel like we’re the bad guys, and using the excuse that we are creating druggies. Get them for their misuse. Let us have a little peace.

  125. daniel on July 13, 2016 at 6:01 pm

    I suggest that we must be active. If you feel you are going to lose your will to fight, make a last stand in public. We cannot go quietly in the night. We can be forced to endure our pain. We can be forced to have our personalities stripped away by our bodies. However, we cannot be forced to die without dignity. Without purpose. I know we are too humble with out pain…but I call on you to fight for the innocent who will follow you. If you will not protect yourself protect the next one.
    May you all find peace in the end.

  126. Michael on July 14, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    I’m late to this conversation but felt the need to comment. I’m surprised at some of the comments about issues being only for certain people.
    Shots work, they don’t work!!! It’s a “Women’s” issue……

    This is an issue for any and all who suffer chronic pain. Shots work for some and not for others. I would have to say that most feedback I get about shots are negative. Me personally I didn’t feel any difference at all after the shot.

    I am also treated like an addict and can’t even discuss my pain with my doctor because the medication restrictions has made the Medical community gun shy when prescribing. I currently get about half the amount I need to live a decent life. If I bring up pain to my doctor, the conversation immediately turns to cutting back because if I’m in pain while taking medications, they must not work. Not that it’s not enough, it’s that it must not work and talks about cutting me down and off completely so I don’t even bring up pain or anything else that could indicate the meds are not working or causing bad side affects. I could very well be getting really sick with another ailment but no one will ever know because my pain is so intense at times, I’m deathly afraid to be cut off. I have tried many things and wish with every fiber of mt being that I was an addict. At least I could get help and be off these damn pills. I’ve left them at my brothers in his safe because he lives a slight distance and he’s a police officer with a safe so I knew my med’s were safe, but that way I could see for myself if it’s the pain or the dependency of them. It’s a little of the dependency but the actual pain was so over bearing, I asked him after only a day and a half to please bring them to me. I could not take the pain.

    So please, this is not an issue to argue over who’s most effected, it’s an issue about chronic pain sufferers from every walk of live and gender that has the government in control of our lives completely. Without medication, I would have no life at all.
    It’s the Government vs. the People and the Government is winning.
    Mexico can give you Hydrocodone over the counter and Canada at least allows Codien. Doesn’t work for me but at least there’s something stronger than the tic tacs called ibuprofen or Tylenol doctors try to push when I’ve been in pain so bad I’ve taken an easy 30 plus within a few hours.
    Whats more dangerous???

    This Government has become more like what we fought against in the 1700’s that we are no longer the shining example to the world. Unless you have political power, you are a speck on a map.

  127. Christy on July 14, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    I really hate this save-me-from-myself mentality that has taken hold. Nobody has ever been this impassioned about alcohol, for instance, and look at all the mayhem and death that has caused? Over-zealous I would say. Why cannot they leave the medical industry alone and stop threatening physicians with their ridiculous agendas and oversights? When did the physician/patient relationship give way to insurance companies and the now the DEA? My doctor suddenly decided it was his mission to find me alternatives, that my problem would only get worse because it’s completely out of my control. Really? Nine years of being able to sleep pain free resulted in me getting my Master’s degree, getting promoted at my job twice, and start thinking about buying a second home. Yes, those bad, bad opiates that allowed me to get up every morning and be productive really need to be stopped! Over-reaching into our lives once again… thanks Government, please save me from my self…you wouldn’t last a single day in the private sector/real world, so I’m sure you have a lot of time on your hands to generate more oversights and regulations. It’s all you’re good at anyway.

  128. Kim on July 27, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    The doctor I have seen for under 30 minutes in a years time had decided that I do not need the pain meds that I have been on for years due to chronic pain. I am now in tears and do not want to live like a vegetable. I live in massachusetts and do not think I will ever find a doctor here to get my medicine again.

  129. Susan on August 1, 2016 at 4:47 am

    Thinking about going to a drug dealer for heroin because I can’t get pain meds for neuropathy. Keep the government out of health care!

  130. Susan on August 1, 2016 at 4:48 am

    Please delete my last name from previous comment. Thanks!

  131. Nicolas Martin on August 7, 2016 at 2:39 am

    Opioids have been used for thousands of years. Americans, enthralled with “addiction” have not discovered that all those who experienced relief were self-deluded.

  132. Anonymous on August 8, 2016 at 9:07 am

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  133. Ruby Bush on August 8, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    I was recently *Cut off* my prescription of Percocet.
    I have an on going but eventually curable condition that causes debilitating pain.
    When I first took a Percocet I was relieved as it did take some of the pain away, or, at least make it bearable.
    I had a prescription for years, took myself off them, every few months A: So I knew I could B: So I could monitor my pain. I did all the tests required by my doctor for some one that is on narcotics.
    I was using the pharmacist attached to my doctor’s office.
    Imagine my surprise when one of the pharmacist refused to hand me my prescription as she is Muslim, will not handle drugs and the other pharmacist decided *That’s enough* drugs for me, threatens my doctor with a call to the College of Physicians and surgeons.
    I am now without pain medication, in extreme pain and finding another GP in Toronto that is narcotic friendly is impossible.
    All I wanted was to be in less pain until my problem was solved, now I can’t get out of bed.
    There is no problem with going to the LCBO, getting some Whiskey, doing the same amount f damage to your liver and what about the much more serious personality changes and dangers that go along with alcohol?
    Oh wait, no restrictions there!
    Yes, there is narcotic abuse…But there is also pain.

  134. Jen on August 14, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    I have severe small fiber neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy and CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy). SFN is known to be quite painful and to ruin a person’s quality of life (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23716362). My pain moves around my body. Sometimes it’s my ears feeling electrical pulses, sometimes the joints in my fingers and toes feel like a combination of electrocution and severe aches. Sometimes I get pinches of pain that shoot through my jaw, the back of my knees, my wrists, elbows, rib cage, ankles. Those are just some of the daily random pains I get, but all day, everyday I cannot walk because my feet cramp and feel like they’ve been badly bruised (like they’ve been run over by a car) and I cannot use my hands for the same reasons. I am 50, was a part time actress/full time mom, but now just spend my days in bed hoping I’ll die. NONE of my doctors will address my pain seriously. I get a lot of, “I wish I could help you.” and “Stay positive!”. I’ve tried every every antidepressant and every anti-convulsant they use for nerve pain and I got every side effect (40lbs of weight gain, NOT helpful when you can’t walk already) and no pain relief. Then I had I to deal with the discontinuation syndrome for months. I’ve done everything the doctors have asked me to do. The doctors have confirmed that SFN is extremely painful and a quality of life killer, yet, none of them will let me try narcotic based pain relief.

    My life is over because of chronic pain but the only thing the doctors care about is covering their butts. I’m being honest when I say that if I didn’t have children I wouldn’t be here right now typing this – what scares me is when my love for my kids stops trumping the unrelenting, debilitating pain I live with.

  135. Anonymous on August 18, 2016 at 10:18 am

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  136. daniel town on August 19, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    i cant believe we have allowed this to happen. 20 years ago i crushed two disc in my neck and had fusion had to take pain meds for few years finally got of them. about 3 years ago pain started come back . doc say two more disc have failed . alos broke arm in new york . doctor in emergency room said its burcides no x ray he just new it 300 dollars he took to tell me this . bone chip torn ligament and tendons . saver nerve damage. 30 days at our farm in unbelievable pain. obama care .witch ive have but i buy my own insurance and have a 8000 dollar out of pocket cost. so broward general finds problem when i got home sent me to orthopedics .but first had to go pcp .two week wait then he refers me and i wait 2 weeks more . finally 8 weeks later i see the right doctor give him xray he doesn’t see the problem. he thinks it my neck causing my pain. its 1 year later my arm is still broke i spent ten thousand dollars on doctors and i have been given 5 days of prednisone and 1 cortisone shot. and my arm is still a mess. and my neck is getting worse . i pay out of pocket to see a neurologist he prescribes 60 pills a month percocet and i cant get it filled.anymore .or maybe every pharmacy in south florida is out of this drug. i think ppl like me should get a class action lawsuit against this. it seems criminal for government and pharmacy to do this.i cant afford to go to the doctor im in so much pain that some days in make me vomit .i have a great wife and son .they also pay the price because im miserable .i just wish if there’s a god he would take me .my life is no longer fun or even bearable . i feel that im being tortured .why what did i do to be treated like this .this country used to be honorable and fare . now im just a number .i give up . thanks for giving me a place to vent .

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  144. SK on August 25, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    Most of the posts are missing the point
    Government is interfering with medicine

    Most of the narcotic problems in this country are due to The War On Drugs that government foisted on the public
    Not doctors who write Rx’s for the drugs

  145. Michael on August 27, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    I am not sure what I am going to do. But I see my problems repeated over and over in these comments.

    There are no doctors left here that offer pain management around here, as the DEA has scared them all away. Even after following my doctors orders to the letter for 12 years I was told he has no choice but to cut me down on dosage to the point that I no longer can see him. The DEA is forcing doctors to stop giving meds period.

    What does one do when they cannot work, or walk, or sleep without pain meds? 12 years for me now. I have a small business, i was able to sleep, and function to a degree. The pain never goes away, but it becomes manageable with pain meds. Now I am looking at having no pain meds in 2 months. They started cutting back 2 months ago.. i now haven’t slept in 2 days the pain is do bad. Cutting me back 25% each month is making me sick, to top off the pain. The pain is so bad now I can barely walk. I have to take my night meds just so i can get through the work day. I already have lost one client. The pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep for 3 days. I finally slept, well, passed out from lack of sleep, and i missed a call. That means they called someone else. I have no choice but to run my small business because I cannot keep a 40 hour week job, my body wont hold up. For the first time in my life, and I was 49 at the time, i had to quit a job because the pain was too much. The company knew i was dealing with injuries but they needed someone who could work 40 hours. I left before i was fired. that was 9 years ago.
    I hate pain management. i have taken myself out 3 times, but the pain is so bad i have no choice but to go back. Now we are all being forced off of pain meds. I have no clue what I am going to do. The more I walk/work the worse the pain. I cannot walk or stand more than 5 minutes without sitting as my back is sooo bad now from the shattered heel and torn Achilles. I have 7 herniated or bulging disks 4 in my lower back and 3 in my neck. 2 botched surgeries on my shoulders, stenosis of the spine, along with a slew of other degenerative bone issues and problems. My lower back is so bad from the shattered heel that i now have both of my S1 joints so far out of whack they they say maybe in year or 18 months, maybe, they can get them straightened out.. that is with therapy 2 times a week. The pain from the therapy is excruciating. Now they cut me back on my meds? I am 4 months into this 18 moth therapy, making some progress. and guess what.. I cannot take the added pain any longer.
    I have stopped going to the therapy. I cant walk now after the therapy for 2 days or so. The pain it causes, while I know it is helping is intense. They are attempting to straighten my back. with 50% less pain meds I can barely get out of bed anymore unless I double up during the day which leaves me sick and sleepless at night.

    I am almost the the point where i am thinking of getting street drugs. i cannot lose my business. The DEA really thinks they are going to solve anything by taking my meds away?
    They are only going to create more addicts on the streets.
    What a travesty.
    What a disgrace the government has become.
    Get the DEA out of my doctors office.

  146. Hurting on August 27, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    Jack Booted Thugs get out of my doctors office and out of my medical records.

  147. ron on August 30, 2016 at 2:36 pm

    It is beyond stupid to me that the DEA lets pain clinics in Florida and other places roll on for years and years and their answer to the problem of opioids on the street is telling doctors to stop prescribing them completely to the people that actually need them.
    if you take prescription meds that aren’t prescribed to you and/ or in quantities in excess of normal usage and OD that’s on your dumb arse not anyone else. One of the problems in our country is a lack of personal responsibility. So sorry your kid took meds he bought of the street and overdosed that is no ones fault but his own. These peoples poor choices should not affect my ability to get 10 hydrocodone pills after a root canal.

  148. Riley on September 1, 2016 at 9:01 pm

    Have read many sad stories here. Like most things I do not believe that this is about public heath. Most things are about politics, power & control. Could it be that because the DEA failed to win the “war on drugs” they had to find a way to re-purpose themselves? You hear nothing about the drug war or drug raids anymore. It is much easier and safer for them to chase around doctors and little old ladies needing meds than it is to fight with drug cartels. Have the drug dealers left? I don’t think so. Many doctors have just gotten out of the pain business as it is very difficult to care for their patients while retaining their licenses. Others treat patients like they are at a meeting with their parole officer rather than a doctor’s appointment. Doctors are willing to give you a med that is less effective & has more side effects just so they are not giving you a narcotic. Tylenol is added to oxycodone, not necessarily to improve it’s effect but because it is not of interest on the black market.
    Doctors also need to take some responsibility for how people ended up on so much medication. When first injured 15 years ago, all but two doctors thought it was appropriate to give me much more pain killers than I needed. I was told the only down side was that I could become addicted. One of these physicians went from a more is better attitude to cutting his patients off cold turkey with subnoxone when the laws were passed. Was also told that many doctors were writing prescriptions for cash sales. Big Pharma played a role as well. “In 1996, pharmaceutical firm Purdue Pharma launched a campaign informing patients and doctors that a new, safe drug was available to combat pain that was not the result of cancer, surgery or trauma.” This was their introduction of fentanyl to the market.
    I have read and been told that people taking narcotics for pain rarely become addicted and I believe this is true. One thing I do find troubling is a statistic that the US and Canada are the only countries in the world using narcotics to combat pain. If this is a real stat I would like to know exactly what they are using. Does anyone know. I would also like to know the breakdown of addiction problems between street users and valid prescriptions. It seems that maybe a small % of addicts are creating this problem for all of us.
    We as citizens have to take some responsibility for this change. In the US people are really into the blame/sue game. We don’t seem to want to take responsibility for our choices and when they don’t turn out very well we cry that someone should have not left that choice up to us. I see this over and over. If we act like children I guess it is not surprising that our government treats us as such. And do we take action? In this case people could have complained long before this became law. There was no shortage of articles on what the plans were but we just waited & held our breaths that it would not be so. We can still act. There are sites like Care2 where one can start a petition on basically any topic. If enough people signed & the petition was directed at the right individuals maybe something would change. We could also write to our representatives; right after we find out who they are. Keep in mind that the powerful and well connected folks are certainly not going without their pain killers.
    So thank you for listening to my rant! I would really like to hear what others have to say.

  149. michael on September 2, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    Any chance the DEA might reverse it’s dumbass decision to ban Kratom and rank it as an opioid? I doubt it. Even though they know it is not an opioid. And even if it was so what? Doctors will no longer prescribe pain killers for fear of losing their license. Kratom does not establish any dependency nor has anyone overdosed on it. In small doses it is a mild stimulant, in larger doses it has a painkilling effect. So there is no reason to classify it as a class 1 narcotic. There are two reasons why the DEA is doing this. Number 1 is that they are trying to find new excuses to put you behind bars in for profit prisons. Prison is the new slavery, it is the new plantation. They have factories in prisons now that pay people as little as 17 cents an hour. The USA has over 2.2 million people in prison now. More people in prison than any other country in the world. They are looking for more slaves. Number 2 is Big Pharma. They don’t like herbal competition. And they pay lots of money to buy people in power and strangle the competition. So if you have chronic pain and the doctor won’t give you anything for it and you can’t even use a harmless herbal alternative then what do people do? They go to the street. And the street leads to prison. Get the picture yet?

  150. Scott on September 9, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    This is not only killing me physically, this is killing me mentally. My depression is so bad from the pain, I have no joy in life. I have been in 2 car accidents, one involving a fatality in the car I was in, so yeah it was pretty serious. I am not going to list every injury I have because it doesn’t matter. For 14 years, I was prescribed a tolerable enough of pain meds from my PCP to let me enjoy life. Now, since forced to see a pain management Dr., I have never been in so much pain, nor been so depressed. My last visit I told him the meds he reduced me to are NOT working at all, so he reduced that. What a friggin’ joke. I have giving up hope. If I wasn’t a single father to a 9 year old girl, I would, I am almost positive I would end my suffering.
    I feel bad for all of you as well who have to suffer like this through no fault of our own. It’s so frustrating to be forced to live in Hell thanks to the DEA and the scumbags who ruined it. I truly hope karma hits them all hard.

  151. Barbara on September 16, 2016 at 11:41 am

    My doctor gave up her license because she disagreed with the government telling her how to practice medicine after 30 years. As a life long (Spina Bifida, DD, neuropathy, seizures, failed fusions, etc.) fellow sufferer I was cut off. Not down dosed, but cut off a very high dose after years of going up. It almost killed me. I lost family, lost home, have been refused service for having the wrong insurance for certified pain clinics, my records gone from hospital…., allergic to anti-inflamatorys, (remember Vioxx, Celebrex, etc.?) surgeries, numerous doctors, crazy drugs and injections. Horrific mistakes in billing over the years that have destroyed credit, cleaned up, destroyed again, we all know the story.
    The new world is Marijuana. Legalizing and marketing, as the government becomes the ultimate new drug pusher of “genetically modified seeds” from Monsanto and guess who makes money now, not Big Pharma. See the shift? Only all the press about how pot was not addictive is over. Look at cigarettes an how they put the chemicals in it? People still smoke, because they are addicted. Raise the price? No problem. Now Pot? You think they magically grow “flavors” of pot? It is now the chemical age and pain seekers will be pushed to Marijuana. Edibles are potent. And hallucinagenic. and addicting. But wait, and a new problem will ‘arise’ from smoking pot that they will make a solution for. A costly one.
    We need to remember what and the real point is that we always forget. Government is 100% taxpayer funded. DEA included. The doctors oath to do no harm has been over ridden by the governments strong arm tactic to steal their life, and license, like they have stolen ours from us. And have they inflicted harm? you bet. That sounds like a problem to me. Regulation is one thing, but telling doctors how to practice is another. Very fine line, that.
    We all played by the rules, signed all the contracts, never went to an ER, and now we are back to bed and made to feel like less because of needing help managing pain. Why are we responsible for ‘bob’ or ‘ann’ chopping up drugs they stole from their parents to snort on a weekend? Take theirs away. Make them responsible for the contract they signed. Not the rest of us. If you have pain and take your meds like you are supposed to, you don’t get high. The pain just stops and you live. I believe it is a mistake government thinks that we just want to get high. Some do, I don’t. But… They won’t let you end your life, and they won’t help you unless they can make a buck off you. We the People, we decide. How did we get so scared? WE are not criminals. Among us, we must have lawyers who can’t practice, Doctors who lost licences, writers who have stories to tell? We have the right to redress government for a grievance. A First Amendment right.
    And, It’s always the few who make the many suffer. Unless we change it. But if you want the real story of what has happened, just remember, follow the money. Who profits from the new paradigm shift in health care and legalizing Marijuana?
    Dr. Lynn, thank you for giving us a voice, even a small one in a very dark time.

  152. Julie on September 24, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    Kratom is the best!! Natural, no unwanted side-effects or impairment, elevated mood,clear mind,fantastic pain relief….but oh yeah, since it actually works so well the DEA has decides to ban it. Can’t wait to see what synthetic crap replacement the pharms come up with to try to replace it.

  153. SCOTS girl on September 28, 2016 at 7:16 pm

    So glad to have found this website today. Thank you, Dr. Webster, for printing the truth. I have been taking hydrocodone for more than twenty years and it has been the best choice for me (after many years of trying everything all the doctors wanted me to try) for many congenital issues. I was treated in my home state for twenty-five years and then treated in WA state for the past twelve years. Now my doctor is moving to another state and none of the other doctors in the practice will take me as a patient “because you take narcotics” (none of them knew me or my journey). I am at a loss to understand how they can do this to someone who has been low-maintenance and at the same clinic for so long. Silly me…I thought healthcare was about helping people live as normal a life as possible. I work full-time and the only life I have is made possible by hydrocodone. I’ve been on the same dose for all those years and have never asked for more than what I need to get by. I don’t understand the “wisdom” behind not helping a contributing citizen stay one instead of causing a situation where I will have to quit my job because I can’t work because the pain is so intense. Half of my salary goes toward paying for insurance. This country needs a major overhaul in the health industry. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I will have all of you to walk beside as I’m figure it out.

  154. Mount on September 29, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    I have several sources of chronic pain .Three areas of my back cause by injuries and a life of very hard physical labor. These are conditions that give me serious chronic pain.
    I had abdominal surgery and after herniation I have a gortex patch that is full of adhesions and cause acutre pain all the time.
    After tryong many different pain drugs and muscle relaxers Ifinally found the correct pain drug. I have been on the same dose of Oxycodone for the last 5 years, never trying to fill early, doctor shop or asked for an increase in strength or amount.
    Now because some people use the drugs for emotional pain or drug addict behavior my doc has been scared by the DEA anbd says I may have to cut back to half of what has been working for me all this time. It is inhuman and cruel to do this to a good law biding citizen who’s life is better with the pain meds than without them.
    I dont abuse my pain meds or suffer any side effects that would warrant changing anything that im doing. The only problem I have is the bureaucracy that is intent on living my life for me

  155. Uhlizza on October 3, 2016 at 8:45 pm

    And DEA’s regulations they are not doctors, it is none of their business. Since I was in an accident I am now a number. Thanks. I am disabled for a condition that I can’t get my medication for becuase I am a number what are you hitler? Now you take away Kratom you idiots. And aside from the street overdoses, there is the one no one is reporting, how many are turning to alchohal to get a glass of pain relief? Shame on you people.

  156. ssssunhank on October 7, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    I have been taking 5 mg norcos for past 2 years. I have disc problems and spinal spondylitis. I was recommended for surgery however was told recovery time is 3-6 months, I have done the spinal injections, acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropractor. I can’t afford surgery at this point in my life. I recently asked my dr for increase in dosage as have become more active with grand kids under the age of 3 in my house now. Oh dear lord you would’ ve thought I asked for the moon. My provider went on &on about how I have built up a tolerance ( yeah probably) that its really just a temporary med & the DEA will question my dosage – I finally just backed off. I have worked at the call center at Kaiser and patients are labeled “DRUG SEEKING” in bold red letters if asking for early or increased refills. My sister went to the ER and felt as if they thought she was seeking pain meds (she has had most of her pancreas removed as well as spleen and gall bladder) she has occasional severe cramping. she and her husband left. My daughter went to Urgent Care and was told she could “Dr Shop” elsewhere. I am not sure how providers are being threatened but sucks, I use my meds responsibly.

  157. Sunnie on October 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    I too have chronic pain! I’m going to get to the point! My doctor just cut me off cold 2 days ago! And insists I join Kaiser intense addiction program!..cruel!…I’ve been on opiates for several years and it worked for me! I never asked for any increase in amount or potency! The article above mentions that many of us chronic pain suffererers have to resort to black market means because of being cut off or being cut down! TRUE!..then,…because of needing pain help, now, we are criminals!..and all the “nay sayers” can say “see they are just drug seeking”!.. b.s. I am scared to death! ..the withdrawal is unbearable, and many believe that you “should suffer” thinking it will detour you from wanting the meds”…but chronic pain destroys your quality of life! . So now,..I have considered suicide for real!…I see no options and I’m tired of being treated like I’m a piece of shit criminal!…cruelty is amiss and the drug war is killing us!

  158. Fernanda on October 31, 2016 at 12:46 pm

    Hitler! good, you are right, that´s exactly what this people are, rich people… like Hitler… cruel, sadists, narcissists and only interested about money and power… that´s why it is so important people vote for the right guys

  159. ymous_anon on November 4, 2016 at 3:03 am

    It really is inhumane this war on pain doctors and patients. I’m living in hell on earth after my doctor stopped prescribing my hydrocodone. There is an increase in suicides for relief by pain patients and i feel like I am going to end up ending my life. I mean can’t a doctor even prescribe Tylenol 3 since the new draconian cdc laws ?

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  162. Nick Biddle on November 19, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    I am 71 years old. I should have a right to control my own health issues. We do not live a free life if the government treats us like dumb cattle. If people die on drugs that is different issue. The government blends two separate issues into one to justify their absolute control over our so called free society.

  163. Dawn on November 30, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    I very upset with this. I have several back problems, one in which I have an inoperable herniated disc. I was just told that they can no longer give me a long lasting pain med because of the DEA. I was on 24mg of hydromorphone and 40mg of oxycodone a day. As of yesterday that changed to 30mg of oxy a day. I’ve tried trigger point injections, epidurals, cortisone shots. None of those seems to work. The new pain mgmt. dr that I’m seeing said something about holidays. In otherwords completely stopping my pain meds. Well I know that the suicide rate would definitely go up if they completely stop my pain medicine. Or as someone mentioned black market drugs. I refuse to live in such pain everyday!

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  165. Lawrence on December 17, 2016 at 3:58 am

    Hello. I have arthritis along with degenerative bone disease in my back, hips, Knees and solders. On July 13 2016 I went in for right hip replacement surgery because I was unable to walk anymore. The doc told me the surgery was a success and sent me home with a script for 2, 5mg Oxycodone every 4 hours with a total of thirty. I felt so well i didn’t even finish the prescription. I was told to get the stitches removed the following week which I did. That night after the stitches were removed my wound started to drain. The following week the drainage increased and the doc to me to go to ER for emergency hip surgery because of infection. During this surgery he had broken a tube off and stitched it up in my hip. The next day I went into septic shock with a temperature of 104. The doc came in and told me we had to go in for a third surgery to remove the tube. A good thing because I was close to death. After the third surgery the doc told me all went well and we should be infection free. I had to have daily antibiotic infusions for six weeks all while my wound was still draining. After six weeks of antibiotics the infection remained and I was told to go in for a fourth surgery to remove the hip parts and replace then with an antibiotic spacer. Oh my God I have never felt so much pain ever. I had broken my back in four places 10 years ago and the pain from that was not even close to what I’m going through now. Two months after the forth surgery the hip pain worsened so i had an xray that showed the hip bone was trying to reattach and had snapped off and rubbing causing pain that gets worse week by week. It feels like I have a broken hip all the time. I have been in living Hell. The doc was prescribing 3. 5mg Oxycodones every 4 hours for this increased pain that barely gets the job done. Last week I was told that they had to cut me back to 2, 5mg Oxycodone every six hours for fear I might get addicted. This dose does absolutely nothing for the pain. I’m back to peeing in a jug because its to painful to go to the bathroom. I have always followed the prescriptions as prescribed and really don’t understand why I have to suffer because of there botched surgeries. I would suffer and die before I would go to the streets looking for relief but now I can understand why the Heroin epidemic is so wide spread in the US. Its only going to get worse. The DEA’s so called war on drugs is a joke. They aren’t even stopping 1% of the illegal drugs flowing into this country day by day. Its really sad they cant deal with that huge epidemic and put restrictions on the law abiding citizens of this country. They are to stupid to realize they are making the drug epidemic worse by there ignorant actions. The DEA is a waist of our tax dollars and is doing nothing to help this country only to make it worse! We need to ask ourselves why do we allow an organization like the DEA that has failed time after time to do their job on keeping drugs from coming across our borders and to control the lives of law abiding people with real pain issues to suffer is beyond me! If I had a company like the DEA working for me, they would have been fired 20 years ago. God help the poor law abiding people who are suffering and dying because of these ignorant jerks!

  166. Rocky Elkins on December 17, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    I suffer chronic pain for 18 years.Deformed hips, peripheral neuropathy,Severe Spinal stenosis,Carpal tunnel.Why should people suffer?? I have had 3 surgery’s and need more.And no guarantees with surgery’s…A person can have a life threatening surgery and it could make things worse.I predict suicides will skyrocket if people can’t get the pills they need to try to function a little better..The people need to wake up to what’s happening with this.Good honest people will suffer and be bed ridden without the medications they need to interact with their family’s and friends.And will put people in the position where they can’t work and provide for them selves and their family’s.The gov. puts everyone in a box.Doctors should treat patients not the gov. Who by the way can’t manage what they do already.

  167. R. M. on December 18, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    What seems to be ignored in all this is the % of patients and addicts who OD with prescription painkillers who are likely to have done other drugs(self medicating) on top of it, like cocaine, meth, ETOH, other sleeping medications and anti-anxiety medications of the benzodiazepine class of drugs. It is usually a combination of drugs in the system that cause the OD to come about. People who take the medications as prescribed (includes following the directions and observing interactions) are much less likely to OD. It’s a fact. The drugs themselves aren’t the problem, or the doctor(usually), but the patient and person downing them for a high!!! I will not be told by the uneducated public what I should or should not put into my body. As an educated RN, with more than 20 years of experience, I have seen nearly everything as far as pain and addiction/abuse goes. Tolerance and addiction are not the same thing when it comes to treating pain, especially chronic pain.

  168. Mary on December 22, 2016 at 8:21 am

    i have lupus, was on MS Contin 15 mg twice a day and HCD 10/325 3-4 x day. At my last Rheumatologist appt I was told my doc would no longer write triplicates for meds. I could take Tylenol #3 (ha, ha, ha, med is a joke) or go to pain management doctor. I will not go to pain management, so said ok, I will take the Tylenol #3. I have never abused med, take drug test every 6 months and this is what I get. My appt was 11-6 so started taking less and less meds. My last ones were 11-28 and have had some significant withdrawals, still can’t sleep, anxiety, etc. Honestly I have mixed emotions about the meds, because I was obviously addicted and I think my doctor should be shot, he didn’t even give me anything for the withdrawals he KNEW I would have. I am an RN and was a hospice nurse for many years, so I know pain meds, heck I knew I was dependent on meds, but at least I was partially functioning on them. Anyway, Tylenol #3 does nothing for my pain, Advil does more, but ohhhhhh, I can only have 8 Advil a day. my pain is so bad I lay crying all the time. At this point I am not sleeping due to pain, most I sleep is 3 hrs a night. No told my husband if I were not such a good girl, I would be out looking for drugs. The DEA has done nothing but ruin my life, all of us pain sufferers will be doing one of 3 things—-taking illegal drugs, shooting ourselves in the head or spending all of our time in the bed. Thank you DEA.

  169. Susan S. on December 23, 2016 at 10:04 am

    1st the drugs on war is bullshit and has done NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! Nothing over centuries! I despise all the stories about how opiate pills led to the heroin epidemic! No the DEA did that with their overkill raids…now yes shame on a number of the dirty doctors and some deserved to be put away! Before anyone comes at me KNOW THIS: I have many pain ailments but the biggest being CANCER and a 2nd time and metastatic! You know what I get??? Suboxone, that is not even approved for pain by the DEA yet!!!!!!!!! Why because doctors are not taking their f**king oaths the way the should!!!! I don’t blame it on the DEA, crooked doctors, doctors afraid to right, I blame it on the whole system!!!!!!! When a cancer patient and 2nd time, recurrence and metastatic is stuck with suboxone we have a problem in this country bad!!!!!!!!! I have nothing against suboxone for what it was invented to treat opiate addiction but not for cancer pain!!!

  170. Anonymous on December 28, 2016 at 1:16 am

    My name is johnny and my story reads the same dam the dea can’t they go back to busting drug lords and dealers. I blew out my knee and three disks as well as my sciatic nerve is rubbing the bone from time to time. I went to Bellevue pain clinic in 2008 and was treated for chronic pain and put on four 15mg morphine four times a day. And for ten years my pain doctors and depression and anxiety doctor have been able to treat me without any problems. But now in the ending of 2016 every thing is changing for the worse. I have been able to live a half -ss life with the medication but now as every one says all the doctors want to do is lower the meds that gave us our partial ability’s and now of course they want to take it away as in all the cases you have read before this one. And now instead of meds that have been very successful for over 10 years. They want to inject wire probes into my back to send stimulation to the spine and surgically implant a control unit in my back. But why not just hang a tens unit on my belt and attach pads to the skin it sounds the same without the costly surgery. There is so much more I could say but its no different then what the hundreds of others have said pretty much the same story. Man worked for a living got hurt to the point they put me on Pension disability & Social Security Disability with a 100% Disabled rating but guess what going through same as you all. Even after surgery that failed once but they still have the nerve to tell me there taking me off the meds that work and letting me go back to the pain and suffering that I was in 10 years ago but then pain doctors treated there patients and didn’t think twice if the x rays confirmed the same thing as the pain did. Also I am with most of you have the medical proof for the need for pain treatment and myself in 10 years haven’t had to have a single script replaced or supplied early. And also passed the urine test as of lately seems I was taking all my meds and not selling a single one imagine that so why all this nonsense now my question to the DEA is who is going to deal with the real problem in our streets and country now a days.

  171. Patricia McEnany on December 28, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    As of December 9, a good and caring doctor who cared about his pain-patients has had his license suspended, largely because he had so many patients in need. There are now scores of men and women in the Bellevue, WA area who are left with nowhere to go. There are few remaining doctors in our area that can even write many of these prescriptions. I may end up needing to take an early retirement myself. I’ve been using fentanyl lozenges for over 10 years as I am allergic to almost all other opiods. In addition to the pain, I’ll be going thru withdrawal in the next few days. While I wouldn’t do it myself, I understand now why many turn to the streets……

  172. Steve Ashley on December 29, 2016 at 7:41 am

    My Father was diagnosed of brain cancer march 2016 and ever since then we have done chemotherapy 3 times but the cancer keep returning. Few months ago i heard about cannabis oil and its healing effect and i sourced the cannabis oil from USA Ricksimpsonmedicaloil@outlook.com and my father began treatment immediately with the cannabis oil, after using the cannabis oil for treatment at the stipulated time prescribe by Rick, there was total cure and as i write now my father can walk around the house by himself without support from anybody and go out anytime he chooses.

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  173. Stephen Kepple on January 6, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    Almost everyone will experience severe, lasting pain at some point in their lives. Some will do so early in their lives, some throughout their lives (however long or short), and some lucky few, only at the end. This ensures that justice will be served against the gang who are participating in this insane, blinkered, Puritanical campaign to ban or drastically limit access to pain medications.

  174. NINA on January 16, 2017 at 2:46 pm

    What is the name of the new law that limits the amount of controlled substance a doctor can prescribe?

  175. Anonymous on January 17, 2017 at 1:23 am

    I read some of these post and they look like I wrote them.

    1985: had Major car accident, crushed my knee, broke ankle and other damages to my body
    3 major surgeries on knee 6 1/2 to 7 hrs on each of the surgeries in a 1 year time frame.
    They removed ALL cartilage and over 55 % of the ligaments. a few more surgeries were preformed also in the next 5 yrs.
    2005: I had a neck fusion, I still have 2 other bulging disc.
    2014: I had a total knee replacement, The doctor said I wore off over a 1/2 of bone in me knee so you could imagine the pain all those years.
    2016: I had L4 and L5 in lower back fused. I still have 2 more bulging disc nest to the ones that was fused. I really suffer in pain.
    The pain doctor gives me steroid shots, they help a little for a short period of time and steroid shots are very bad for my health.

    I started taking Hydrocodone in 1990 on a daily basis. I never called the doctor and ask for more, I took as proscribed till the laws changed in September 2014. At that time the Doctor switched me over to Tylenol #4. This medicine is about 50% less effective and only last for an hour. The Hydrocodone would last for about 4 hours. That’s a lot of difference for someone suffering in pain.

    I ask the doctor WHY would I be punished by the law, I’ve been taking the pain med Hydrocodone for over 25 years and NEVER abused it.
    The doctor told me he doesn’t agree with the law but he has no choice but to change to a weaker Tylenol #4 pain med.
    All because of too many people OD and get addicted to it.

    This law is ABUSE TO THE ELDERLY and I thought abuse to the elderly was against the law.
    The answer to fix this problem is to have the doctor send in to the DEA for someone like me to be sent an exemption card because of prior low risk history. I see the pain doctor every 3 months, make the Hydrocodone be written for 3 months at a time. I’ve written Senator John Cornyn of Texas and received an auto reply stating he received email. Also Congressman Bill Flores of Texas several times and a reply we are busy, we are addressing the issue about the expense Etc. Not once I believed he read my emails because ” he’s to busy” and they are addressing the problem, not the problem I emailed him about but the pain med bill they are passing into law. The Doctors who say pain meds are bad ( most of them) have never walked in my shoes so they don’t have that knowledge of major pain every day, all day long, every day for the rest of your life……….

  176. Richard Paradise on January 17, 2017 at 5:22 pm

    The DEA and the State of Maine have ruined my life. First an illegal drunken driver in an 18-wheeler truck who caused a head on collision with the vehicle I was in, ruined my life at 18 years old (killed two of my friends 19 & 20 years old).
    Took over 10 years of going to Hospitals, Doctors, Specialist , for my Severe Chronic Pain due to my severe injuries to my head, neck and face, till I was finally helped for daily constant Pain I suffered through every day for more than ten years!. A Chronic Pain Clinic started treating me with Morphine!
    Then I have now used a correct dosage of Morphine RESPONSIBLY for more than 25 years with NOT ONE PROBLEM FROM THE MORPHINE WHICH IS LITERALLY- A G-D SEND, MIRACLE MEDICINE, A LIFE SAVER! 25 YEARS- HELLO CLOWNS! I HAVE DEFIED YOUR BULL SHIT! BECAUSE I AM A RESPONSIBLE PERSON, BUT YOU STILL STICK A KNIFE IN MY BACK!
    Then one day I go in for my prescription and am told sorry NO MORE MEDICINE FOR YOU!
    The United States to me, has turned worse than communist!
    Only evil demonic people would do what they have done to me! Again only EVIL DEMONIC PEOPLE WOULD DO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO ME!
    It’s worse than a crime! For it is EVIL!

  177. Billy on January 17, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    I work in construction and I consider myself a reasonably healthy person. I’ve never done illegal drugs, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I discuss with my doctor and only take prescriptions I really need and as often as I really need it. I’ve been in 4 car accidents. I’ve got arthritis in my neck, back, shoulder, hip, and right hand, all to which I’ve never taken medications for, I just live with it. I blew up my right hand with a “dry ice bomb” and sat in the ER with the nurse setting my hand, completely pain killer free, and I was 120/80 heart rate.

    I started having this odd intestinal/rectal pain late June that was making it hard for me to drive. The doctors recommended surgery they later admitted they knew wouldn’t solve my problem. I had a hemorrhoidectomy on July 5th, 2016. I’ve since had 4 more surgeries trying to repair the damage done to me, I’ve had much of my rear end eaten by infections I’d never even heard of before like MRSA. When I use the restroom there’s as much blood as stool and the agonizing pain afterwards is often so bad I find myself in tears begging for death to end it.

    When I first got out of surgery the doctors prescribed pain killers until they found one that worked quickly. I got through the first couple months with the help of percocet (oxycodone) after trying codine & norco with no relief. It wasn’t long in that I began rationing my pain meds and only taking them when necessary. I basically only took them during bowl movements when my pain was intolerable otherwise. Then, while I’m still going through surgeries the surgeons said they couldn’t prescribe me any more pain killers. Not because they didn’t think I needed them, but because my pain classification is “acute” pain, not chronic, so they were past their time limit.

    I have since gone months without pain killers. I spend most of my time laying in bed on my stomach trying to distract myself from the pain or vent my frustrations. I’m angry all the time and suffering obvious psychological side effects from months of daily severe pain. I have to see a therapist just to deal with the lack of will to live so I can maintain empathy for those around me as it’s hard to think about what everyone else is going through when you live life this way. The hospital has so many hoops to jump through trying to get to pain management that my first appointment is still 2 months away. Even then they’ve told me it will probably take several months to diagnose me, then plan a treatment, and then if they feel it’s necessary they will discuss pain medications.

    I’ve probably taken maybe 300 pain killers in my lifetime. I feel no withdrawals or addiction, not that I’m denying they are addictive. Right now however if I believed I could take crack and never feel this pain again I’d gladly become a crack addict rather than live my life this way. I’d rather take pain killers, develop an addiction (if I even can) and have to treat that later than live this way now wanting to die rather than face tomorrow. I go on frequent “liquid diets” and actually went on clear liquids for an entire month just trying to prevent, or at least minimize BMs. I probably would have stayed on it if I hadn’t started passing out, although I lost 39 lbs in 29 days so it wasn’t all bad.

    The point is I know pain killers don’t solve a problem, they treat a symptom. However when a symptom is pain and you have to live through months of suffering while waiting on diagnosis and alternative treatments all I can do is hope for a total cure/recovery before they ever get to pain killers. If they do, I will still look back on the months upon months of suffering and nothing is going to convince me this pain is a good idea because the medication that made it tolerable was bad.

    If the DEA people that made these changes and the doctors here endorsing what they did ever had to live through what I live through every day of my life, this change would have never happened.

  178. Anne C. on January 19, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    My friend’s husband has terminal stage 4 kidney cancer and is in excruciating pain. All his doctors would give him is hydrocodone and now they (Emory University Hospital in Atlanta) say they won’t even give him that!

    The man is dying and can’t even get out of bed. I don’t understand why they can’t give him the strongest thing they have instead of making him suffer for what little time he has left. Is this normal? I think it is unconsionable.

  179. Gregory on January 24, 2017 at 2:28 am

    Yes, if you made it this far to get to this post, those of you like myself that through no fault found them selves in pain:
    I’m with you, and the assault on out doctors and our constitutional rights is unconscionable!
    The DEA and CDC are out stepping their roles and acting like NAZI storm troupers!
    Doing havoc on the medical profession and most of all we American people in need of care.
    Some thing has to be done.
    Gregory

  180. Karen Shroyer on January 25, 2017 at 8:41 pm

    I came across this today after I had a doctor retire who took over caring for me after another doctor who I seen for 20 years tried everything to help me with my pain before we were able to find the MS Contin and Norco worked. On 12/31/16 my doctor retired and I was forced to have to stop these medications cold turkey after 8 years. I called every doctor in my county and then some and NO ONE would write even a small amount until I could get into a pain clinic which is the new wave thanks to the DEA causing all doctors to freak out about writing narcotics. After taking a medication like this for 8 years your body is going to feel the withdrawal symptoms and I am suffering and sadly the medical system just does not care about this part, they would rather see you suffer then treat you or even help with these symptoms. Now because of the push to pain clinics you cannot get into them until for at least a month if you are lucky. So here I sit suffering withdrawal and suffering in pain thanks much to our wonderful DEA taking control over the medical field

  181. Reinbeaux on February 1, 2017 at 1:21 pm

    I, too, have chronic pain and have been on hydrocodone 20 + years and get my meds through the VA. All of a sudden my dosage has been decreased because they think I might overdose. I have been told by a reliable source that after August 2017 pain medication will no longer be available or risk going to jail. My personal feelings are that this will create more suicide. Can they not realize people can only deal with so much pain before they reach their breaking point!!?

  182. se on February 11, 2017 at 9:23 am

    unfortunately, pain is a subjective thing. there is no test to tell if you have pain and how much you have. I’ m sure that there are some people who abuse pain medications or don’t them as prescribed, but that is throwing out the baby with bath water.

    I live in state of constant anxiety not knowing when my pain dr will be shut down and I will be left with no meds. I have seen all the pain drs in my area over the course of years, but they are not longer in practice, due to retirement or being shut down but DEA. . If my current doctor stops prescribing I will be unable to function. I will have no choice but to end my life.

    I was in the hospital for surgery and they didn’t want to give me narcotic for my post operative pain. I was in agony and they did nothing. I was screaming in pain and they just ignored me.

  183. Amy B. on February 12, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    In January after calling 20 places I finally found a place that could fill my Oxycontin ER 20 mg 90 tabs. In Feb, last week within a radius of an hour there was only 1 pharmacy that could partially fill my script 55 tabs of Oxy ER. I contacted my doc who has been wonderful in managing my pain since 2008 when I had a car accident that bruised my spinal cord and exacerbated my degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, arthritis and herniations. In 2009, I had a spinal fusion C5-7 ACDF because I was losing feeling in my arms and risked paralysis. The surgery corrected the paralysis but I was left with 24/7 pain in my left arm. I tried everything from PT, massage, gabapentin, lyrica. The only thing that could control pain was oxycontin ER and breakthrough Oxy IR . Because of an understanding doctor that I have been seeing now for over 25 years, I have been able to continue working and managing my pain as well as it could be. I am scared to death and what life will be like without pain meds?

  184. Joan McLaughlin on February 22, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    I take methadone daily! I was prescribed 30 mg/day but I only take 5mg.Don’t want to take more than I need! The epidurals only work for about a week! Now I also need to prove that I am taking pills an d not selling them! So I take pee tests every six months and on occasion a surprise test! I have no problem with that. But I need to see the doctor every 2 months. I’ve had a rappelling accident as a teenager and later my car was hit by a school bus! I’ve had 2 back surgeries and numerous epidurals.I also have a back brace and neck brace.Now I have scar tissue and have been told they could do surgery to remove it! On the other hand the scar tissue could come back! I also had the Medtronics spinal stimulator installed but it broke twice! They want to do it again! HELL NO! I can’t lay on a table AWAKE while they fish the lead up my spine! My first surgery was in 1999! I’ve been to 3 different neurologists! I’ve also had people tell me you need a 2nd opinion! How about 3! Two are department heads at their hospitals! One has an array of awards dealing with pain care! At least with the meds I can think and cook. My husband is legally blind! That just happened last year! So basically everything is on my shoulders! Gov. Wolff / Pa.cut funding for the blind and other disabilities! Save money by cutting the perks of politicians not at the expense of the disabled! If I could function without pain meds I WOULD! BUT I need to function the best I can. I also have a 10lb weight limit! Please somebody needs to help the truly disabled!

  185. Wade on February 23, 2017 at 1:03 am

    I don’t understand why people that aren’t in pain are making the rules for people that are. My wife is all most to the point of being bed ridden because of it. Took her to a pain Doctor the other day and that was a joke he was going to cut her med’s in half right then. How can we fight what the government is doing to people with chronic pain.

  186. Anonymous on February 24, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    I would definitely not recommend these as ways to break the ice however. agefgebebfgfdfkg

  187. Hickory67 on February 24, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    So those of us with chronic pain, who take our meds as prescribed in order to live a normal life, get punished.

    Meanwhile, people will seek out relief on the street, giving local, state, and federal law enforcement the necessary ammo to justify higher budgets for their “war on drugs.” So while we, the responsible patients, lose, the government wins.

    Follow the money.

  188. Pippy66 on March 5, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    To all of you who suffer, I understand. We are a huge group in this country and we must find a way to do something. I have been lucky so far. None of the nerve blocks or steroid shots worked, and the hydrocodone meds made me nauseated. I often failed to take the meds on time, which was not smart. Once the pain level increases, the meds do not work as well. Because of this, my pain doc convinced me to use a Fentanyl patch, with the hydrocodone for breakthrough pain. I’ve been using the patch for 9 years now, and I do take the hydrocodone if I must. However, I found that using a cold pack on my lower back (herniated disc, arthritis, spinal stenosis) all day really helped my pain. A physical therapist taught me how to make my own: 2 parts water, 1 part rubbing alcohol (to maintain pliability) in several plastic baggies. He warned me that I’d go through CBAN-Cold, Burning, Aching, and blessedly, NUMB. I finally had to retire because of the pain, and I was approved for SSD in 2007 based on chronic pain. Believe it or not!! My primary care doc, who originally referred me to the pain clinic, has been prescribing the patch and the hydrocodone for 8 years, ever since nerve blocks failed to work. Then the head of the pain clinic was fired (thankfully) for insisting on only using injections to treat pain. They just do not work for many patients. Remember, anesthesiologists who staff most pain clinics, make their money by giving shots. Each of my treatments included 3 shots at $5,000/per shot. So my insurance paid $15,000 for each treatment. What happens to the patients who don’t have insurance? Or those who are on Medicare only? Who can afford the deductibles and copays for nerve blocks that do not work? I have Medicare only, but I can afford the meds, for now. I am so stunned that so many of the doctors referred to in this thread are now refusing to prescribe proper medication-for the patients they have been treating all along. It makes no sense! And it seems to be malpractice. Doctors take an oath TO DO NO HARM. When they do harm by leaving their pain patients out in the cold, they are violating their oath. Has anyone filed a complaint with your state’s Dept of Professional Regulation? Called the news outlets?? We MUST protest as long and as LOUD as we can to stop the gov from interfering in our treatment plans. To the person who posted that the doc is now only prescribing Tylenol 4, that IS hydrocodone with tylenol. That is my breakthrough medication, the generic drug- 325 mgs acetominiphen and 10 mgs hydrocodone. It comes in varying strengths, both for the acetominiphen and for the hydrocodone. And as my DR told me, it’s the tylenol that is the danger, not the hydrocodone.
    These crazyass doctors that I’m reading about here apparently don’t know the difference between Tolerance and Addiction. The younger docs are now trained in pain medicine, and the older ones should know how to treat pain by now. Most patients who take a narcotic med for pain will eventually build up a tolerance, meaning they may need a higher dose to achieve the same level of relief as they did in the beginning of treatment. So what? ADDICTION, on the other hand, is the Misuse of narcotics for reasons not related to pain. These are the idiots who have ruined the prescribing of narcotics for those of us who truly need them to control unrelenting horrible pain. The Opiod “epidemic” is caused by these fools who use narcotics to get high. A doctor should know the patients for whom the meds are prescribed. And if that Dr. stops prescribing for his/her pain patient, then that Dr is deliberately putting that patient’s life in danger. We cannot just abruptly STOP taking a narcotic. We will go through a dangerous withdrawal which can lead to death. The dr who does that should be imprisoned AFTER losing his/her license.
    Research has shown time and time again that pain patients seldom become addicts. We may become tolerant, but we are NOT ADDICTS.
    If a dr is afraid to keep prescribing pain meds, that doctor should not be practicing medicine. Every chronic pain patient I know would give their eyeteeth to be able to stop buying these meds. We don’t CHOOSE to use them, we MUST. Or we will die. In the past, I’ve seen too many of my friends commit suicide because of the pain. That may begin again, unless we can convince the gov to change the law. We were able to change the law back in the early 90s, which resulted in pain meds becoming available and in Drs willing to prescribe them. The main reason for the change in our favor back then was the lawsuit filed by the family of a cancer patient who died in agony. His Dr refused to prescribe effective pain relief, so the family sued, AND THEY WON.!! That led to many other suits, and many more wins. It led also to pain medicine courses being taught in med school. So we can do it again. But we must be activists once again.
    I am in suburban Chicago. I haven’t had any problems-yet. I feel so bad for those of you who are struggling in pain and depression. I only wish I could help. Can any of you get to another state-or to another country? Please hang in there. Don’t give up. Fight. Fight. Fight.

    • Anne on August 3, 2017 at 11:03 am

      Just a note…Tylenol 4 is NOT hydrocodone. It is codeine –a much weaker (at least for me) narcotic.

  189. Anonymous on March 7, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    I have read all your comments.and I too suffer. What I haven’t seen yet is a way to STOP them from making us suffer.

  190. Doug on March 7, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    My Medicaid insurance just up and decided to stop covering my Oxycontin, 80mg, on January 1, which has been working wonderfully for my debilitating pain for over 6 months. They don’t care that my pain management clinic notes state that I’ve been going to them for 7 years with perfect results. All they care about in Illinois is the all-mighty dollar. Each 30-day supply costs $1,700. So I had to go without for 3-4 weeks in January, but couldn’t take the pain/withdrawals and broke down and had to get a partial fill of 50 pills (for 25 days, 2X per day). So with one of those “discount” coupons, it came to over $1,000…money I DON’T have since I’ve been out of work for over 4 years. And, yes, I’ve been appealing the denial just about every day and, so far, I’m at the State Fair Hearing level…which isn’t FAIR AT ALL! IT’LL be MONTHS before they even get to my case! What a crock!

  191. LH on March 14, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    This crackdown on pain meds has to end. Here’s a brief glimpse into the damage it has done.

    A few years ago, I had a pelvic surgery. I was given good pain meds post-op, and I was back to work the next day without a problem. I healed up well and everything was good.

    Fast-forward to this year. I had another pelvic surgery, very similar to the previous one. I was given Ibuprofen and Tylenol for pain. Seriously. I attempted to go back to work the next day, but the blinding pain precluded me from doing anything productive. On the 3rd day after my procedure, less than 72 hours later, I was still in agony and losing my ability to tolerate it any longer. My shoulder felt like it was on fire from the CO2 nerve irritation. The gas also made me feel extremely bloated and uncomfortable. My stitches were throbbing. My head was pounding with a migraine. I found myself rolling on the floor in agony for hours, banging my head on the tile. I gathered up my hair into a ponytail and cut it all off (I normally have long hair), hoping to relieve my head. I couldn’t find small enough scissors, so I grabbed a metal hook (the kind for picking the plaque off your teeth) and a kitchen knife, and I used these to hook, pull, and saw off each of my stitches, looking for relief. Still in torturous agony, I grabbed up every OTC medication for pain I could – acetaminophen, ibuprofen, caffeine, naproxen, etc. – and I took them all, 32 pills in total. Still the pain was so great, that I grabbed some vodka and downed that (I’m not really a drinker, but I was desperate). I got quite floppy and nauseous, but still no relief. I spent the rest of the day rolling on the floor, casually chugging vodka and OTC pills, beating my head on the floor, slapping my incision sites, and moaning in agony.

    Now my question: Is taking me out of work for 2 weeks, chugging alcohol and taking OTC pills by the dozen, yanking out my stitches in less than 3 days, and bashing my head and belly in misery… is this REALLY preferable to just giving me 2 weeks of real pain medication? I’m just glad I didn’t destroy my liver or get alcohol poisoning before the pain finally subsided. It had reached such an intensity and carried for such an extended amount of time that I had pretty much zero cognitive function or ability to think about anything other than the pain, and I lost any worries whatsoever about the risks of what I was doing, because DUH, you can’t think straight when you’re in constant blinding pain.

  192. Kathy on March 17, 2017 at 4:00 am

    Dr. Todd,

    Thanks for all of your hard work on my case and bringing John back in my life. I have never seen the results from a spell like the ones that I have seen from yours. You truly are the one person that I can count on in my life to be a friend. Mentioning friend, let me tell everyone reading my testimonial.. (manifestspellcast@gmail. com) is more than a friend, he is a person that takes person care of your case. I have been to many different sites (Egyptian sites, and several others) and I have been put off to counselors and several other different people have handled my case, to no avail. When I approached Dr. Todd with my situation I was stunned at the personal service and attention to detail that he gave to my case.

    I will be back for more spells soon. Take care Dr. Todd and I will speak with you again soon.

    – Kathy

  193. Enrico Mengoli on March 31, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    I would say I trump most people in the “chronic pain” world. I was born disabled with basically no hips. I have never walked right my entire life. When the pain has been severe enough I’ve been in a wheelchair. The long history short is I have three forms of arthritis so I have it in very joint in my body. I have five artificial joints and scheduled for at least two more.
    My current MRI and x-rays show my spine is crumbling. I have been on every conceivable treatment plan you could every think of.
    I was tortured throughout my childhood and teenage years because no one wanted to take responsibility for giving a child painkillers. Of course, my having been successful once and a number of attempts at suicide, because I couldn’t live with the pain, may have had something to do with it.
    At 16 my Orthopod I got me on the federal study for Ibuprofen and I have been on it 52 years with dosages as high as 3,200mg a day. Yes, it’s true. You see I’m not stupid or childish as most patients. I have always taken it with food and never drank while taking it. I tend to take what another grown up is telling me as good advice. At least at that time before greed began pervading the medical industry. No kidney or stomach issues at all.
    The happiest time in my life was when a young resident from India could not believe I was suffering the way I was. She put me on Morphine I was on it for over several years. I had a great life, lost weight and had a marriage. In that time the DEA stuck its nose in and Morphine went from a duplicate to triplicate to quad and she had to bow out. No actual doctor would support her.
    Here’s the fundamental truth of the current situation. The current out of control drug use and deaths are a) not my problem, and b) a mental health issue. People who get addicted to anything, health food, any plastic surgery unless wound necessary, cigs, alcohol, street drugs, legal drugs are in a mental health crisis. I should know I was addicted to street drugs up to and including heroin. I also have a severe case of schizophrenia and bipolar so I am an authority on both subjects.
    Mental health wise and pain wise there is a second problem; very few doctors have ever experienced either set of diseases. The have only read about them. Book knowledge makes you no kind of expert.
    My hip surgeon pushed me to get them both done at the same time, I did. I got all the way back to walking with nothing feeling better than I ever had. This gentleman was legendary and world renowned in the world of joint replacements. He came out of retirement to do mine. Thank God he did, what a success story.
    Some years later he had both his hips replaced. He called me up while recovering and asked me how the *&^% did I do it, and not only that but two at the same time. A man who spent almost 40 years doing joint replacements and he had never experienced the pain from the procedure he had performed.
    It’s very simple to decide who should and should not be on pain medication you should be required to perform an EMG and a pain test (sticking your finger in a device that administers pain in a very measured amount; unless you can prove you have been disabled for quite some time.
    You may be inclined to do that disgusting thing most Americans do and jump to conclusions that since I was addicted before that is my justification for my viewpoint and you would be dead wrong. I quit street drugs 26 years ago. Never had any since. I literally went from doing them one day to over it the next. When I was on Morphine I never got high other than to not be in pain. When I was on Oxycontin I never knew I had taken them except one minute I was in pain the next not. Sure I was high if you want to call it that in a sense. I was extremely happy, much more active significantly fewer health problems and weight problems BECAUSE I wasn’t in pain.
    I was fed a line of bullshit from my “Certified Pain Specialist” I know what that means. You went to some seminars and stood around and held each other’s private parts and boasted about your success. My father and uncles were doctors. I’ve been on this %^&*@#! Suboxone for three months and now I’m dying. I went from having 80-90 GFR with normal creatinine to 50% GFR, elevated creatinine, and anemia that no one can figure out. If the don’t hurry up I’m going to be dead soon. I’m not doing Dialysis that like most cancer treatments is a slow and painful death. I’ve lived long enough in pain I’m totally fine with letting go and moving on just not at the moment.

  194. Emily Plummer on April 11, 2017 at 1:10 pm

    I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia around 6 years ago although I’m certain I have had it much longer than that. I have suffered from sleeplessness, joint stiffness, severe pains, depression and fatigue. My neurologist prescribed duloxetin 40mg daily (Given as 20mg twice daily), although it did relieve some of the pain, I still suffered from joint stiffness and extreme fatigue. Finally, i started on Fibromyalgia herbal formula i ordered from NewLife Herbal Clinic, this herbal formula did the magic! almost immediately i started usage, i started noticing a general reduction of symptoms including the very severe pains and fatigue. 9 weeks into usage, the disease has totally succumbed to this herbal treatment. The whole pains and terrible fatigue has seized and i am now able to function fully well again. (Visit www .newlifeherbalclinic . com ) I’m able to get out of bed in the morning and have more energy to go about my daily activities.

  195. Elina Smith on May 9, 2017 at 5:48 am

    My friend did a fairly small amount (2 bags) last night for a experiment. I was just wondering how long it usually takes for heroin to be out of your system.
    How long does heroin stay in blood -https://www.slorecoverycenters.com/blog/addiction-treatment/how-long-does-heroin-stay-in-blood/

  196. Sara K on May 11, 2017 at 3:55 am

    I have chronic pain from M.S. for years I was on a low dose of Oxycodone without asking for more. But the pain has increased, as happens with many cases of M.S. I asked my doctor for a small increase and was denied. He said that the “Bureaucrats” are on his back. I assume that means the DEA? I’m fortunate to keep the dose I’m already on, but I can’t keep tolerating the worsening pain. How do you choose between suicide and street drugs? I have never been to the street before, and it terrifies me. But the increasing pain is terrifying, too. I have a bad heart; maybe all the pain will destroy it and take me out of this world, anyway. The doctor knows I have a bad heart , but he is only concerned with his “Bureaucrats”.

  197. Donna Carlson on May 16, 2017 at 5:14 pm

    I have a disease which is unfortunately NOT understood well enough in the USA and therefore is not treated correctly in many cases. I have APS or Hughes. While I see more sites going up in the US on this subject I am baffled by the refusal of our medical journals to share reports from the UK where Dr. Hughes himself offered very helpful advice. The latest I have heard is that MDs are attempting to test patients themselves to see if the patients blood no longer has anti phospholipid antibodies which cause the clots which cause strokes, miscarriages, heart attacks, thrombosis and can lead to acute failure of organs. As this test is a difficult one and should be done by specialists and also can provide many false negative results I am along with many others so angry that they seem to be doing this to get many people of blood thinner in addition to already denying our pain medications. This disease causes widespread pain as in Fibromyalgia but much worse and often is seen in Lupus patients. We all are assuming this is another Insurance ploy to not pay for our medications. However, Dr. Hughes himself is now posting videos telling us never to just stop the blood thinner because the chances that you are in some sort of remission means nothing. I myself have achieved remission only to have it return quickly. So we are left unprotected. The opioid scare has even meant that I have run out of hydrocodone because I am allowed 2 pills per day and must pick up the script monthly. Sometimes it takes 2 1/2 or 3 pills which is every 8 hours. Every 12 can be a hard thing for Lupus pain. So I have also had to go in for Migraine problems which is a Hughes symptom almost daily. They charge $1600 at the hospital for Morphine shots. Last time I had some doctor say they would no longer give morphine and instead would administer serotonin and a sedative so I didn’t “hit the roof.” Most of us are on anti anxiety med. I said no. I told my neurologist and he said it was a ludicrous treatment and never to accept such a thing as serotonin for migraines. At every turn I am being denied pain medication. The migraine meds are now only dispensed at 12 per 30 days. The hydrocodone limits are leaving countless numbers of us juggling which days to suffer because we often end up with several days a month with no pills left due to having previous days of unbearable pain where we had to take it every 8 hours instead of 12. I am doing what many autoimmune patients are doing including those with RA. We take Tylenol with 3 Advil. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn’t. It DOES mean for those with APS that we are taking additional meds which thin our blood too much and more Tylenol. I read that Tylenol ODs are on the rise. There are ways to reform the opioid prescribing without throwing us all to the lions. They have swung from one extreme to another and people in real need will die from trying some other drugs off the street. I also have successfully come off hydrocodone easily several times by slowly decreasing the dose consistently over time with no adverse side affects or cravings. So I believe it is the cold turkey withdrawal and denial of meds to those who haven’t a life if they cannot curb their legitimist pain which is the culprit here. Also the responsibility of overprescribing for every little ailment is square on our doctor’s shoulders. Going to the other extreme is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We need common sense solutions and no one should be denying those with diseases that either leave them homebound and bedridden or writing in pain without opioids when every day could be there last or in the case of a HOSPICE doctor I know arguing on the phone with the pharmacy for some dying person’s loved ones to pick up their opioid med right away. They are afraid the dying person will die. This whole thing is just motivated by fear of law suits and the caring has gone out the window. Doctors need to understand their oath better. This is becoming a very cruel country for those at the mercy of laws which care more about lawsuits than the care of the individual and life quality!

  198. Bret on July 11, 2017 at 4:43 pm

    Very interesting read, thanks for sharing!

  199. S on July 14, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    At my last orthorhombic Doctor visit I was blind sided at the front desk to either have four bottles of blood draw right that instant or face emeifatly discharge. They were tight lipped and would not answer any of my question except for a sign on the glass. DEA random survey. Didn’t seem random to me as everyone after me was told to do the same thing.

    Why question is what exactly will they be testing for and why do they need four bottles of blood and who’s responsible for the bill?

    The whole office was tight lipped and wouldn’t answer any questions.

  200. gibs on July 18, 2017 at 3:14 am

    (Herbal Cure For Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA))
    I first lost my ability to stand up from a sitting position due to total body weakness. The physician I saw that same week ran a blood test and told me it appeared to be rheumatoid arthritis (RA) few weeks later i came across a testimony of one lady on the internet testifying about a herbal medicine home called perfecthealthherbalmedicinehome,run by dr sithuu, on how they cured her of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). And she also gave the email address of the herbal home and advised everybody to contact for help for any kind of diseases , so I emailed them,they replied and told me not to worry and they promised to cure me totally. Well i never believed it,,but i was so desperate,so i purchased the herbal medicine, well after used as prescribed, few weeks later i started experiencing changes,after 3 weeks usage i went to my doctor to confirmed if am finally cured of rheumatoid arthritis (RA),behold it was TRUE,i was totally cured , So friends my advise is if you have such disease or any other at all you can contact them via email: perfecthealthherbalmedicine gmail’com or website www’perfecthealthherbal weebly’com
    and I have two friends who have been cured by perfect health recently. they are very dedicated and knowledgeable. Thank you perfect health herbal medicine home …

  201. Joe Hayes on August 12, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    My PCP and my orthopedic MD both have diagnosed me with severe degenerative arthritis just about everywhere they said along with severe degenerative disc disease. I have to use a wheelchair to get around. I sleep (HA HA) in a hospital bed but never rest. I need a live-in caretaker. I have 2 curses:1- I have always tolerated pain extremely well (ie. I broke my femur and still walked on it) and 2- my system has never allowed medications to have much of an effect on me. So I have needed strong pain relievers just to give some help. Now my life is even worse. I willingly and gladly devoted 30 years to helping patients, giving them the best physical and emotional care they needed. Now when the situations are reversed the government has decided that those of us with chronic pain really don’t need these strong pain releivers, but we can just lay around and SUFFER. Even I am getting close to my pain threshold, which my PCP and ortho. MD admitted is beyond their comprehension. I truly wish, like many others do, that the ones making the laws ACTUALLY had to live with the consequences of the laws. Sorry to be so long winded, but am in PAIN and FRUSTRATED!

  202. Kim on August 12, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    Neither Doctor’s offices nor Pain Clinics are willing to write for pain medications. I’ve been on them or over 4 years for back and neck injuries. Now, I stay in the bed all day because it hurts to do anything. NO ONE CARES. The DEA and the FDA show no signs of reconsidering the people they’re hurting. While I understand their desire to stop a prescription drug addiction, they’re hurting so many others. What to do and where to go? I can’t find one doctor or pain specialist who will help me.

  203. Kim Robb on August 12, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    Due to the new laws passed by the FDA and DEA, may people who suffer chronic pain are left to suffer. I have been unable to find a doctor or pain specialist in my area who is willing to treat me. I have been on painkillers for the past 4-5 years due to a back and neck injury that was verified by a neurologist and back specialist. Now I spend most days in the bed because I am unable to function in my daily activities or participate with my family. It is extremely depressing. I’ve heard some say they will turn to alcohol or marijuana just to get some relief. Adjustment to this law need to be made.

    • Lisa p keeler on August 17, 2017 at 3:23 pm

      i was prescribed 15mg of oxycodone for my back i have degenerative bone disease and 1 mg of xanax three times a day for my anxiety and insomnia out of no where in 2016 before the New year he gave me a choice pain or sleep they were his exact words…….. i was confused and scared but i chose to sleep because of my insomnia and anxiety i would be awake for days on end and not one minute of rest my back pain is so painful i cry my self to sleep i begged him i needed something for my pain because over the counter meds did not touch my pain level so he put me on tramadol 50mg three times a day its like one step above an asprin i would like them to walk in all of our shoes for just one day let them feel the pain we endure every day of our lives and try to work to keep a roof and food on the table. this is gonna cause more buying off the street and overdose on god knows what. some one needs to listen to us who really need our meds to be able to work and walk. i pray for us all we didnt ask for this pain we have to make a living and this is our out come for being a good citizen and make an honest living. thankyou for taking your time and let us speak out.

  204. Angela on August 22, 2017 at 3:38 am

    Sounds like the DEA wants a two-year Schedule 1 classification for two reasons:
    1. They know that a prolonged Schedule 1 designation will wear down the opponents of the ban.
    2. It gives Big PharMa the opportunity to corner the market and charge outrageous prices to patients,

    Time for the DEA to be DOA – the war on drugs and on people suffering from chronic pain will go down as one of the darker chapters in history. Meanwhile, not a single Wall Street Bankster who crashed the economy and ruined MILLIONS of peoples lives has done the perp walk. For more information: Kratom

  205. N Thorne on August 22, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    Why don’t all the people with chronic pain go to the capital and let Trump know what he during to all these hurting Americans. Some of these American voted for him. They have know right to do this and everyone need to make their voice heard. I guarantee if one of their own suffer chronic pain they would get the medicine they needed. They say a cancer patient couldn’t get treatment, what about a little child they don’t understand. I,pray that CDC changes wit mine.

  206. Betty on September 1, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    Okay! If the D.E.A. wants to effevtively fight the war on drugs, go after the addict who needs the money to get help! Quit pumping the funds into a system that is corrupt and doesn’t work. Quit putting all chronic pain patients into a one-size fits all box. Not everyone abuses pain meds!!!! Live in our shoes. You know damn well, if they needed pain relief they would pursue that avenue.

  207. Wayne Thomas on September 11, 2017 at 10:58 am

    I really had it with these fools that call themselves doctors. This doctor obviously don’t have any personal experience with chronic pain. the DEA has done nothing to curb the opioid pain abuse because most people that are in severe pain, like me, aren’t abusing it. Our brains don’t get high by taking it, if you have severe pain the brain reacts completely differently than someone who’s taking it for the buzz. All the DEA has done is punish the people who’s only relief comes from pain management and the users are just going to street drugs. It’s going to come to a point where we’re going to see a rebellion. You can’t punish the wrong people. We’re not going to sit by and accept being mistreated. The DEA hasn’t offered a viable alternative to us pain sufferers. Now the pain docs won’t even write for muscle relaxers because the users are abusing them now. I’m past fed up. Last January I was on more than 3 times the dose I’m on now of pain killers and was getting muscle relaxers. The muscle relaxers are the only thing that ACTUALLY reduce pain. So, yet again, WHERE THE HELL DOES THAT LEAVE US? What are we supposed to do? Buy Heroin and die on our first shot? Not gonna happen. We need to band together and demand our elected officials to do something about this. If someone doesn’t have a documented, PROVABLE, history of injury or degeneration that causes pain, THEY don’t get it. But if you do, we WILL start getting it. You’re going to see a lot of people, me included, get desperate. You’re going to see people that never even got a parking ticket being willing to break the law to reduce their suffering. It’s a sad thought but I see it coming. I’ve had it, I’m not dealing with this anymore. Suicide is starting to look like a very good idea. I hate to admit that but one can only suffer so long before you get there. I’ve been there for years now.

  208. Kimberlie Turnage on September 12, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    I agree with everyone’s comments from those who suffer in terrible pain every day like I do.The DEA has doctor so scare and worried about law suits that they have become mean uncompassionate government yes men jerks.I hope God punishes all of them some day.Every President and Congress both Democrat and Republican have been fooled by this “opiod epidemic” scam.We need to stage protest, call and write or email our congressmen&women and Share and tweet about this issue on social media.We need to make the public, news stations, our government, and doctors aware of this serious problem.It is inhumane to treat pain patients like this.They won’t be satisfied till we all kill ourselves to stop the pain!!

  209. Micah Warren on September 12, 2017 at 11:07 pm

    Not too sound like a jerk but I broke my bake at age 22. My life changed drastically then. I was an athlete. The only thing that makes my life livable is my pain meds. Now I’m forced too taper down. Its been pure HELL due too my pain and withdrawal. I don’t give a #$@%%!!! About junkies who die because of abuse of the drugs I need, sorry if that sounds harsh but those junkies have ruined my life with the uneducated laws they have caused that effect me. Maybe I’m selfish but I didn’t ask for this life and now I drink. I drink ALOT in order too have a some kind of life worth living. Good going D.E.A #$@% you uncaring jerks!!!

  210. Chele on September 13, 2017 at 10:49 am

    So… it’s OK to prescribe Gabapentin… which makes me feel like I’m stoned on an acid trip… but won’t give me Oxycodone which has NO EFFECT on my mental stability BUT takes care of my pain so I can care for my 3 Autistic children??

    STOP PUNISHING THOSE WHO LEGITIMATELY NEED THESE MEDS!! AND POLITICIANS… FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE… DO YOUR JOB!!!

  211. Tracy Lee Whaley on September 16, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    I have been on the same meds for over 10 yrs. I have no Insurance and can’t afford the 375.00 per shot in my back for relief. Which when I could would be up to 13 at a time. I got a call last week that they need to decrease my doseage due to the new law. I can hardley get out of bed in the morning, with my meds I can work a 10 plus day. without I am not sure. If you have proven cronic pain, why are we the ones to get the axe. I’ve never had a bad drop, but I’ve heard of people selling their meds and making a fortune. Go after them, leave the ones who benefit from them alone.

  212. Josh Scocca on September 17, 2017 at 9:54 am

    Very Good stuff . Personally I wouldn’t mind listening to a few alternitives to kratom related items. Kratom works well for myself, but would just like to hear what other people are trying?

  213. MARK KOSCIELSKI on September 18, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    June 6th 2017 Am 100% disable Veteran with PTSD severe lower back pain and Both knee’s are bad. The V.A. won’t do anything for my back, they did try back in 2002 but it didn’t work out. They will replace my right next September, However they will only give me tarmandol for two week. So for the next 2 1/2 months I go with out pain med’s. I been take 3x 5 mg. of oxycondone a day. I been taken this for 10+ years now and no side effect. I should also say that with some of the med’s I do take will most likely kill me if I take tarmandol. Maybe this is why they are only willing to give me two weeks. I now get my oxycondone outside the V>A> and am back to my pain level 4-6 which I can live with.

  214. Concerned for our patients on September 22, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    With CVS’s latest announcement regarding limiting RX filling for opiods, what does that mean for the patient & the prescribing physician? This seems like a HUGE overreach of the pharmacy’s involvement in patient care. If the real pain patient whose physician is following all of the rules and can do nothing for the patient other than ease their pain? Is it up to the physician to contact CVS and authorize the override for a full script? The physician has already done his/her part. Is it now up to the physician to do MORE? And what implications does that have with health insurance? The announcement from CVS (unless you’re directly involved in & understand patient care) seems little more than a PR stunt. Unless I’m missing something? And possibly some lobbying and if so- this is terribly irresponsibly of such a large chain as CVS. I’m open to correction if I’m mistaken or sensitive here.

    • Tired of Puritans minded the business of others on October 3, 2017 at 1:58 am

      Tylenol damages liver the other placebo / OTC drugs are also harmful. The only OTC drug I take is Aspirin. I guess I will die from Aspirin since that is all there will be to treat my pain. I have to take 4 packs of AlkaSeltzer per day, but I guess that is an OK way to die just as long as I feel the pain while I am dying. WTF is the goal of these people, is addiction treatment the only job they can create now? THIS IS ALL ABOUT MONEY! VOTE : Find political leaders who will fight for you and not just be a carbon copy of every one else, if they are against your pain meds, find their opponents view and vote for them! 100 million people WILL make a difference, do not surrender, do not hide and cry, bang your canes on some tables and make your voices heard STAND UP and FIGHT even though it may hurt at the time, you will be saving yourself from years of pain which these people seem to be ATTEMPTING to sentence us to! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT and get in front of media cameras every chance you get. Remind these politicians and so called law enforcement people that 100 million people can affect change enough to take away their jobs! Rally, find a leader, vote in people who will protect you rather than pick on you the way these people are doing. THANK YOU DOCTOR WEBSTER keep speaking loudly as you can, HELP!

  215. Susan on October 12, 2017 at 4:50 pm

    I have been reading all of your posts and frankly, I am very frightened now since I am moving from Georgia back to my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. I have been having so much trouble finding a pain doc and after suffering since I was 21, I literally feel my insides shaking.
    My history is called “hypermobility joint disorder or ” being super bendie.
    My jaws went first and I have had 10 jaw joint surgeries and three different sets of implants. If you want to know the truth I 100% BLAME THE FDA!!!! The first set of t.m. joints were recalled by the FDA after I had them in my head for 7 years due to the material of “proplast teflon”. Kind of easy to figure out, huh? The teflon flaked off and is all over inside my face/head/joints. As well I suffer chronic headaches and swelling and if a tornado or hurricaine hits all hell breaks loose! Also have an issue with excess bone growth in my jaws and have been due for a clean out for 7 years but I simply can not face surgery. I also got breast CA 3 mons after the last jaw surgery back in 2004 with major hormonal issues. And for the last 22 months I have been suffering from sciatica that is scream worthy! I have had zero issue with my docs here in GA. I see them every month, I do a urine every other and NEVER failed. I am compliant. I am educated and worked in major pain for years but no more. At 61 my spine is now looking like my jaws did and post CA pain is real (why does no one tell you that?) Anyway, my heart hurts for all of you and frankly I want to know what the hell happened to the doctors HIPPOCRATIC OATHS? First do no harm. Seriously I am so beyond angry about this so serious in fact I am wondering why there is no class action suit happening?

  216. Jason brown on October 12, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    I too am like everyone else who have posted here. Run over by a truck riding my motorcycle-I still dont know how I lived, I have no memory of the accident. I’m sure in time my meds will essentially be taken away as they have already been lowered signifigantly-as I write this my leg is numb and my low back throbs-its hard to breathe, hard to even read this as I type…but at the same time the fight inside to respond rises high, I want to know what can I do, there must be something, if not maybe I need to start something. What is being done to myself and so many others like me is obviously WRONG. I believe with the proper reaction this CAN be CORRECTED!!! I want people like me to unite together, in whatever way possible. WE SIMPLY MUST…there is NO OTHER CHOICE…we ALL deserve to live happily and to die a peaceful death.

  217. Jerry on October 20, 2017 at 4:38 am

    The gov goes to war on people in unbearable chronic pain who are now denied opioid treatment options, but ignores the many deaths caused by alcohol and tobacco. The hypocrisy!

  218. Ann on October 22, 2017 at 10:05 am

    I would be more than happy to swap out my pain med. for something else that would work. I keep trying the latest and greatest only to be made sick or have my BP go up. And I stop using my pain med while I am trying the new drug. So I will know if it is working or not. So so much for it being addicting for everyone. It is true that some Doctors have over prescribed. And some people have addictive personalities. So fix that, not shut everyone off. Addicts will always find there fix somehow. What the DEA is doing is punishing law abiding citizens. We should all rally together and get a class action lawsuit against the government or at least have them come up with an alternative that works. Any lawyers out there with a set of balls?? I didn’t think so.

  219. Nancy Collentine on October 22, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    Keeping people with chronic pain away from their meds is cruel and inhumane. They are paying the price for dealers, druggies and the delinquents who pass our laws. Rewrite the guidelines now, so that those who have been following strictly the correct procedure to get and use their mefs may continue to do so. Or their suicides will increase. We want to help the addicted, fine. But let those in pain continue to get the meds they need. Keeping mefs from them will not make a dent in the drug problem.

  220. Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D. on October 25, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    A recent article in the November 2017 Scientific America adds special emphasis and poignancy to this article and the discussion since April of this year. Carl Hart, Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University makes the reality clear: “People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, Not Because of Opioids.

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-are-dying-because-of-ignorance-not-because-of-opioids/

    As he notes:

    “The vast majority of opioid users do not become addicts. Users’ chances of becoming addicted increase if they are white, male, young and unemployed and if they have co-occurring psychiatric disorders. That is why it is critical to conduct a thorough assessment of patients entering treatment, paying particular attention to these factors rather than simply focusing on the unrealistic goal of eliminating opioids.

  221. frank on October 31, 2017 at 3:36 am

    I was a very healthy and productive citizen that served my country well, I did my job, gave to charity, voted and helped anyone that I could. I was very athletic and in excellent shape from my teeth to my toes and wouldn’t even take a Tylenol or Ibuprofen after a filling so no drinking or drugs and UPS was big on random drug tests where the Dr. watches you go so you’re UPS guy is a clean living individual.

    For the record I was a model pain patient, never ran out of my medicine or lose it to get a refill and never came within a million miles of a overdose as my Dr, is a professional not a bureaucrat, is there anyone out there falling for this false concern over loss of life? There will be far more loss of life with this new policy that is inhumane at best.

    I was injured so bad it ended my UPS career after 14 years of a job and my identity which I loved ,and some may say I love my job or career but I loved being the UPS guy. I looked forward to doing my job the best possible way and getting paid well in the process. I can’t stress enough that being part of UPS was a dream come true for me and I would often think to myself that there isn’t anyone or anywhere else I want to be, my life was perfect. When I was told by the UPS Doctor that I couldn’t do the job anymore I cried and then went on to tell my wife I wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage or be intimate with her anymore or play with the kids so that is how bad my injuries are.

    I lost everything & my wife found a man that could take care of her & the kids financially but I don’t hold any bad feelings towards UPS or her as I can understand that bad things happen and folks get hurt.

    I was bed ridden for most of my days until I seen a Doctor that ordered MRIs on my injured back and shoulder then came up with a pain management plan along with stretching and core strengthening, manual manipulation and all of a sudden I had something to look forward to since I could get out with a managed pain.

    So my Dr. worked on a treatment plan for MY personal pain level and injuries to give me the best quality of life possible and this was done with oxycodone which I felt bad about taking because I never even put a Tylenol in my mouth for my 39 years of life. So my Dr. didn’t just give me a pile of pills and say bye bye see you next month but he came up with a dose and list of things for me to work on to help me actually feel like a human being again.

    I was able to engage in some everyday activities again the activities I had taken for granted like do my laundry or sleep more than 2 hours in a row or get out of bed without having to roll and fall to my hands and knees. It wasn’t living the good life but I was living again and it was great even though I make in a month what I took home in a week at UPS so material things are a thing of the past and I need help from my parents to see a dentist since dental is NOT covered by SSD so 22 years of a W2 and employment caused me to make $600 too much a year to get dental.

    Now after 5 years and my Dr. has me on the perfect dosage of oxycodone and I have some quality of life, you come to grips with a new bar for quality of life when in chronic pain but I look back at those days as the good old days. Here I sit 2 years later and due to morons and youngsters using the medicine that gave me life as a high has caused bureaucrats (not doctors) at the CDC and DEA have closed meetings with insurance companies then come up with a milligram limit for my injuries and pain level.

    Oh did I mention that I am a veteran of 6 years with a damned high tolerance for pain? well I am but the VA will only prescribe .5 milligram of hydrocodone 3 times daily to my 70 year old dad a veteran of 2 wars 2 bronze stars and on oxygen in bad pain so no help there and brutal to see him like this.

    My medication has been cut 66% and I barely leave the house which is dirty because I can’t clean it, I feel every crunch of my bones in my back and shoulder is brutal. The worst part for me is mentally I know there are people worse off than me and it kills me to imagine that possible. These bureaucrats claim to be concerned with overdoses but they lump heroin in with pain patients so that shows the brilliance of bureaucrats to lump overdose stats from heroin users and the folks that die from mixing opiates with other drugs and booze.

    My Doctor is treated like Pablo Escobar and just so he can continue to practice medicine is forced to comply with the bureaucrat’s of the CDC and DEA which means patients must suffer. Pain patients should have been left out of this new war on opiates which smells bad if you take a little time to research this issue.

    I can’t bring myself to wish my pain on the monsters of the CDC or DEA but if the decision makers in these agencies did have my injuries and pain my bet is they would be able to get the proper oxycodone dosage to manage their pain. I assure you these bureaucrats CDC, DEA along with insurance companies are not worried about overdose deaths because the suicide rates are skyrocketing for pain patients that are cut off or medication limited by bureaucrat’s rules, and we are not happy that the CDC has used heroin death and addiction numbers to deprive good people of the right to have some quality of life.

    What will the next crisis include? you may see this as not your problem or acceptable losses when pain patients take their lives or worse but you may find yourself in our position someday or your medication taken away because some idiots misuse it then it will be your problem so I urge you to see this as all our problem and I know many of you know someone affected by this so don’t let this slide, this will not have a pretty ending if pain patients are kicked aside as part of a problem.

  222. Jeremy on November 2, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    Law suits should begin in earnest. With each pain patient who takes their life the DEA and CDC must be taken to court and held accountable. Wrongful death.

    • none ya on November 8, 2017 at 3:15 pm

      yes

    • peggy on November 12, 2017 at 7:18 pm

      We need our own lobbyist group to go against this. Everyone who has a loved one or who has a chronic pain condition should give money so we have a group that fights for us. Does any one know a group to join to unite so we have a big powerful group so that we have a voice.

  223. Dr. Tom on November 12, 2017 at 9:38 am

    I have not been able at this time to read all of these comments but have scanned many and will read each and every one very carefully because it is of great interest to me. I have been a physician for many years taking care of folks in the clinic as well as the ER. I realized years ago that pain, both acute and chronic, was not being addressed properly. This goes for the ER as well as outpatient care.

    One of the respondents stated those making comments should not be critical of one another. I agree with this. It is a waste of time to try to argue with anyone trying to prove a point. There are so many levels of education and experience that have to be taken into account. If you do not agree with what I have to say, fine. You are entitled to your opinion.

    Furthermore one cannot be faulted for their feelings. If one says I feel so and so, they need to be respected. Do not say “I do not understand why you feel that way.” Of course you do not because you are not them.

    It was stated everyone is different. Women cannot be treated like men. For instance ibuprofen. Dose for women 200mg 3-4 times a day and men 400mg 3-4 times a day. If treating pain above 400mg has not been shown to be more effective. If treating inflammation 600mg-800mg three times a day. New evidence has shown tylenol taken at the same time as ibuprofen helps to control pain more effectively.

    This is so true and one has to keep this in mind. What works for one may be useless for another. This is why there are so many different substances to chose from.

    Many of the decision makers have never had pain of the nature that all of you have experienced. However they are making the rules and recommendations.

    Recently the CDC stated opioids should not be used for more than three days for pain, even post surgical. This is absurd.

    Now doctors are running scared, and the only thing I see being commonly given is hydrocodone 5/325 either 20 or 30 and that is it. The comment is always stated that I was told they did not want them to become addicted.

    There are also clinics that post a sign in the waiting room saying, No controlled substances will be given in this clinic. This is also absurd. Pain medication is but one modality in the doctors bag that can be used to treat a patient.

    It has been my experience that about one half of all the patients seen routinely in the outpatient setting are there for refills of controlled substances. Also in my practice I rarely start someone out on pain meds and they have been on something or have been taking something before seeing me. Perhaps it is just my opinion from my experience that patients know what works best for them. Many doctors have the idea that they want to try such and such and so refuse to give the patient what works well for them. My role is to determine if what they have taking is reasonable according to physical findings and patient interactions.

    Bottom line, opioid medication is effective, and if a person can have their pain relieved so they are able to lead a productive and active and happy life, then where is the harm as long as they are taken appropriately?

    I use considerable alternative medication as well and would be glad to offer any life style change suggestions if needed.

    In conclusion, I am sorry that you on this forum are suffering and not being treated appropriately. I realize that it is a sounding board and I am glad that it is available and hope it gives some satisfaction to understand that you are not alone.

  224. Paul on November 12, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    I have unoperatable spinal damage, I need my medication so that I don’t become a additional cost to the tax payors.
    The real question is why the DEA did absolutely nothing to protect the nation against oxycotin, not one single study was don. This is there job, the Dea is absolutely responcible for releasing a medication 3 to 4 times mor powerful then any known pain medication ad several times more addictable. THE TRUTH IS THE DRUG ADDICT EPIDEMIC TRULY TOOK OVER BECAUSE THE DEA DID NOTHING TO PROTECT OUR COUNTRY, the doctors had to follow the manufacturer reccomendations for use

    • Liz on November 15, 2017 at 7:22 pm

      Yesterday I followed VA rules and sent an email to get my pain meds refilled only to learn that my new PCM said I need to wean off so he will not write the prescription. How do you wean with a 4 day supply of meds. I have been on chronic pain meds over 10 years. I had a tumor on my thoracic spine that went undiagnosed for several years and so when it was removed ten years ago I got no benefit because the nerves had been damaged. I also have MS. I do not know what to do. I emailed two nurses and a patient advocate and the answer I got in conclusion is it is the doctor’s decision if he wants to prescribe a medication. The way in which it was done is legally considered patient abandonment, and is not merely medical malpractice but also gross negligence. No I am not a lawyer but a nurse practitioner with over twenty years experience. There is a standard of care regarding pain management and this is not it.

  225. Emil on December 4, 2017 at 12:13 am

    People who argue for more regulation are missing the bigger picture. If you go to a doctor for a medical condition, do you want him or her, an expert, to decide on your course of treatment, or some faceless bureaucrat with no medical training whatsoever? People who take opiates for pain should not be lumped together with recreational users. They exhibit different behaviors than recreational users. They don’t steal TV sets to get their next fix. True pain patients don’t worry about withdrawal so much as they worry about what life will be like without medication to treat their pain. I’ve talked to many people in chronic pain and I suffer from it myself. They use opiates because they actually work for certain kinds of pain better than anything else. If a diabetic takes insulin everyday or someone with high blood pressure takes their medication everyday, nobody calls them an addict, but in a sense they are. They could not function for long without their medications. Pain is no different. It is a physical symptom that needs to be treated like any other. It honestly boils down to a group of people who have not experienced chronic pain, telling those that have, that they are faking. What hubris. You don’t know what it’s like to become completely unproductive and dread each morning when you wake up in pain. The only way for people in pain to protect their rights is to organize and to demand that legislators find a solution to the so-called opioid problem that does not harm legitimate pain sufferers. Alcohol kills thousands of people year after year, and yet, oddly nobody wants to ban that. In other words, it’s propaganda and misinformation that is fueling the regulation of these medications. Even the drug problem with heroin is overstated. Stats show that 3.1 million Americans have tried heroin; yet, regular users of the drug are estimated to be somewhere between 120,000 to 800,000. That means that, on the low end, only 3% of people that try the drug become addicted or 20% if the higher estimate of 800,000 is to be believed. I’m not saying that any use of heroin is a good thing, but simply that its addictive potential is grossly overstated by the sensationalist media. It is the latest crusade doomed to failure like all those that have come before it. Indeed, as the government has cracked down on the “evil” opiates, overdose deaths have actually increased.

  226. Stormynw on December 10, 2017 at 12:54 am

    The government’s knee-jerk reaction to completely restrict Opioid prescriptions is nothing short of ludicrous! Those who live with chronic pain have been unfairly targeted in an attempt to curtail illegal drug use. This makes NO sense on at all! In addition anyone who is suffering from a painful terminal illness… they are also being denied the medication that can lessen their suffering unless they go onto hospice. I have a friend in the last stages (probably his last few months) of Cancer and he could NOT get a prescription from his doctor. The doctors and pharmacies are terrified to prescribe or fill prescriptions for Opioids due to the government’s threats. WHAT THE H. IS WRONG a country that threatens doctors for treating patients to the best of their ability. What happened to “DO NO HARM”??? This is WRONG on SO many levels! Those who abuse drugs only to get high will find another source leaving those who honestly require the medication to control pain are left to what??? Start abusing alcohol? Turn to the streets to find something, ANYTHING to help cope with their pain?

  227. daniel senski on December 10, 2017 at 6:30 am

    finally found a combination that work’s but since my wife and I had to quit TRS (texas retirement system) ,me being on medicare disability and she turning 65, were told medicare advantage (Humana) her doctor refused to take the insurance. under the group policy my pain medication was covered , but since we had to get a secondary insurance …same company Eatna same drug coverage express script ,now silver script , cvs..would have covered my pain med’s we talked and she wasn’t going to lose her doctor so no more silver script …now it’s express script, medicare . gov. that is telling me 1 refill is $650.00 dollars where if on the teacher group policy ,no deductible just a 3 mo. supply was $150.00 i.m not going to go into my ailment’s and surgeries s . the drug coverage for med’s is exactly like setting up with a tv company which show’s do you watch so ok here’s the price …same with drug’s name your med’s this is what it’s gonna cost …not like back in the 60’s here’s your policy and drug coverage …no picking it apart ..sad we as pain patient’s didn’t ask for this and now people abusing it have given real pain patient’s a death sentence …thank’s a lot

  228. daniel senski on December 10, 2017 at 6:56 am

    one more thing ..just to show how these people work …the medical board and the CDC got together without telling anyone they were gonna vote these drug law’s in behind closed door’s and no pain advocates were invited…but they were found out …and still went about there way as if we the ( pain patients ) do not matter…

  229. Al on December 10, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    Been taking pain medication since 1991 from energy. I need a Doctor for my medications, and a good Lawyer that will sue the DEA and Government or ???
    My life has been a living hell. I’ve been forced to go to pain clinics and other treatments like I’m a criminal. I was NEVER EVER charged of any type of crime. Now I have really bad health issues because Doctors are to scared and brainwashed from the DEA rules on pain meds.

  230. jack welch on December 10, 2017 at 11:24 pm

    This is unbelievable. A great testimony that i must share to all herpes patients out there. i never believed that there could be any complete cure for the virus,i saw a post on Facebook page of how Dr Ogiangbe prepare herbal cure for a lady and brought herback to life. i needed to give it a try too and after a week of contacting him,he sent some concoctions to me here in U.S.A all the way from Africa. And he gave me instructions on how to commence treatment using the herbal concoction he sent across to me andi did exactly as instructed. To my utmost surprise, just three to four days of treatment i began to experience some changes but I did nothing but to be consistent with the medication. Just to cut the long story short, i went for test after three weeks of treatment only to discover that i don’t longer carry the virus. Not only that i was cured of HSV2, Dr osewe also gave me my joy back and help restore my family’s love and respect so i took it as a duty to share this as far as possible. he saved me and he can do samefor you.less i forget.during our discussions, he also told me that he have herbal remedy for diseases like HIV AIDS, ALS, MND, Epilepsy, Leukemia, Asthma, Cancer, Gonorrhea, email him on droigiangbe@gmail.com

  231. jack on December 10, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    This is unbelievable. A great testimony that i must share to all herpes patients out there. i never believed that there could be any complete cure for the virus,i saw a post on Facebook page of how Dr Ogiangbe prepare herbal cure for a lady and brought herback to life. i needed to give it a try too and after a week of contacting him,he sent some concoctions to me here in U.S.A all the way from Africa. And he gave me instructions on how to commence treatment using the herbal concoction he sent across to me andi did exactly as instructed. To my utmost surprise, just three to four days of treatment i began to experience some changes but I did nothing but to be consistent with the medication. Just to cut the long story short, i went for test after three weeks of treatment only to discover that i don’t longer carry the virus. Not only that i was cured of HSV2, Dr osewe also gave me my joy back and help restore my family’s love and respect so i took it as a duty to share this as far as possible. he saved me and he can do samefor you.less i forget.during our discussions, he also told me that he have herbal remedy for diseases like HIV AIDS, ALS, MND, Epilepsy, Leukemia, Asthma, Cancer, Gonorrhea, email him on droigiangbe@gmail.com
    /

  232. Vanessa Hellas on December 18, 2017 at 10:00 am

    My Father was diagnosed of prostate cancer march 2017 and ever since then we have done chemotherapy 3 times but the cancer keep returning. Few months ago i heard about cannabis oil and its healing effect and i sourced the cannabis oil from Australia at Ricksimpsonmedicaloil@outlook.com and my father began treatment immediately with the cannabis oil, after using the cannabis oil for treatment at the stipulated time prescribe by Rick Simpson, there was total cure and as i write now my father can walk around the house by himself without support from anybody and go out anytime he chooses.

    Best Regards,
    Vanessa Hellas

  233. Sharon Jones on December 26, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    I have had chronic pain from MS, arthritis, and an auto accident which my left arm was dislocated at the elbow, severed and the skin removed (but the surgeon was able to save) for 10+ years now. I have been on SSDI now since 2011. I have been seeing a pain management Dr. for about the same amount of time. I have been taking Methadone {10mg 4x daily) for my chronic pain since I started seeing pain management Dr. and I’ve only added Oxycodone (10 mg 4x daily) in the last few years for breakthrough pain. I signed a pain management contract, see Dr. monthly, get UA tested every 6 months. Over the past 4 years or so, I have tried to reducing my Methadone & Oxycodone dosages, changing to a more accepted form of medication, even tried alternative pain management, but as my MS progresses, the more pain I have. Methadone with the Oxycodone for breakthrough pain has been the only thing that reduces my pain to a level to where I can function to take care of my family, even with the pain meds, I still feel about 30% of my pain.

    Last week I received a letter from my insurance company’s Director of Patient Safety Programs that stated, “Because of your health condition, this medication (Methadone) may not work the way it should. Some health conditions may change how a medicine works. Please talk to your doctor to see if this medication is right for you.” Mind you, the insurance company has been paying for my meds for 10+ years already! LOL! I think this letter was sent to me in response to the new opioid and new healthcare laws that are going into be in effect in the next few months. I contacted my insurance case manager to inform her of this and she said that because I have been a patient of a “Pain Management Clinic” and I have a pain management contract, and I have been taking these for long term, that I shouldn’t have problems, but I can’t help wondering if what she said isn’t the last of this.

    I mentioned the letter to my Dr. today, and he said that there are going to be some major changes being made to the way he can treat his patients, which I think isn’t fair at all, politicians have no clue whatsoever. They have lumped everyone (chronic pain patients, opioid abuse, and illicit drug users) into one category and the only exemptions to the new laws which are not laws rather CDC guidelines, although several states have enacted laws regarding opioid use for pain management and of course, they don’t take into consideration the patient.

    Politicians should stay out of the Dr. office.

  234. Martin on December 27, 2017 at 1:32 am

    There are approx 17 million alcoholics in the us. 10,000 plus alcohol related traffic fatalities each year in the us. There are only 2 million opiate pain killer abusers in the us. I don’t see them rushing down to put a clamp on those martinis or scotch on the rocks. Or beers that you can just walk in any quick mart and buy legally with no shame. Doesn’t make and sense whatsoever.

  235. Kent Hoover on January 9, 2018 at 9:46 am

    Pain..it has consumed my mind and body..cant. Even get. To doc. Or hostital.. Fuck. It. Death.. Only. Wa
    y out

  236. Adam Lallana on January 14, 2018 at 4:54 am

    I have been diagnosed COPD and chronic emphysema and also the antitrypsin deficiency for over 12 years. My principal symptom has been a heavy feeling in the chest. I cannot breathe well while lying flat on my back or on my right side.
    Two year ago i was about to go for lungs volume reduction just for me to live a better life at least,not until u was i ask to give a try on totalcureherbalfoundation@ gmail .com natural herbal formula which i emailed and purchased from them,the herbal remedies work perfectly on my system,i can only say that for me this treatment has worked well and has allowed me to live a normal life and I am extremely grateful to the herbal team.

  237. Edward Jackson on January 24, 2018 at 7:00 am

    Many of you fellow sufferers may find this as a bad solution to the problem of the cut backs of IR pain Opiates and Opioids. The average human body and the average Opioid and Opiate has a Bioavailability of about 20 to 40 percent. That means if a pill has 100 percent worth of active ingredients you will only be getting maximum of 40 percent of the effects of the pill and the rest will not be absorbed and excreted out in your urine. IR Opioids and Opiates that DO NOT CONTAIN OTHER INGREDIENTS SUCH AS ASPRIN, ACETAMINOPHEN etc.. can be diluted in sterile water and administered the IV route. Sorry, its better than suffering unimaginable pain or worse committing suicide. I have known sufferers other than me that have done this with their pill form OPIODS for years with fine gauge insulin syringes being very cautious and done in a clean environment. And with no needle marks as there are multiple injection sites on both arms that allow injections several times a day in different locations to allow healing and to prevent scarring. And the best benefit to get 100 percent bioavailability of the pill prescribed. Don’t bother calling me irresponsible or a drug addict, I am neither. I am simply relaying a solution to a problem in this country that is causing the unnecessary suffering or death of hundreds of thousands of people because of the irresponsible use of medications not prescribed to them for the purposes of getting high.

  238. Bari on July 19, 2018 at 11:00 am

    Bottom line~pain is not a one size fits all diagnosis, and so the treatment shouldn’t be either. Doctors should be making all of the decisions regarding patient care and the government should be making decisions regarding criminals.
    Limiting or discontinuing pain meds, in essence punishing the patient for the actions of illegal drug users,is no different than permanently closing a department store due to theft, rather than prosecuting the shoplifters.

  239. Ronalda Jones on July 19, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    I too am in chronic pain, hydrocodone has given me somewhat of a normal life for many years. Now my meds have been cut to the point being able to function is almost impossible. I’m a widow with No one to help me. Getting to the grocery store and loading groceries is almost impossible now. The last time I got gas my arthritic hands hurt so bad I got sick to my stomach, I didn’t think I was going to be able to fill the tank. With tears in my eyes and in horrific knife stabbing pain in my hands I got so mad about the
    government taking away my ability to live a normal life while coddling the dope heads stealing pills and taking street drugs to get high that sheer rage got me through. When I finally finished I pulled my car away from the pump stopped the car and screamed. cried and cussed for about 10 minutes before I could compose myself enough to drive home. EVERYONE NEEDS TO WRITE TO THEIR CONGRESSMEN SENATORS AND REPRESENTIVES LET THEM KNOW WE ARE BEING PUNISHED AND WE VOTE..

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